Prescription charges to increase 66%

Charges for prescription medicines for medical card holders are to increase by 66%.

Currently people with medical cards pay €1.50 for every item dispensed to them, subject to a cap of €19.50 per month. But under the new rules, they will have to pay €2.50 per item, with the monthly cap increased by 28% to €25.

The charges are scheduled to come into effect on Dec 1 and are expected to raise €43m for the Department of Health next year. Prescription items were dispensed free to medical card holders up to 2010, when a 50c charge was introduced, capped at a monthly total of €10, so yesterday’s hike represents a five-fold increase in four years.

The Irish Patients’ Association criticised the move, saying many people who were reliant on a variety of drugs could not afford the extra burden and may try to ration their medication.

Charities working with the homeless have also repeatedly criticised the charges, arguing they force people to choose between medication and food or finding a hostel for the night.

The Carers Association described the move as “deplorable”. “This charge disproportionately impacts on the sick and older people, many of whom have ongoing, complex medication regimes”.

Nursing Homes Ireland was also highly critical and called for nursing home residents to be exempted from having to pay the charges. CEO Tadhg Daly said: “The imposition of further charges on nursing home residents who already contribute significantly towards the cost of their care is incomprehensible and unfair.

“The Health Amendment Act 2010 provided for a number of categories of persons to be exempt from the prescription charge and it is incumbent on Minister Reilly, who promised to abolish the charge prior to election, to add nursing home residents to the listing of exempted groups of persons.”

Health Minister James Reilly said around 65mprescription medicines and other medical items were expected to be dispensed under the medical card scheme this year.

“The prescription charge is intended to address rising costs in the medical card scheme and to influence to some degree demand and prescribing patterns.”

The Irish Medical Organisation criticised the move, noting the minister in opposition in 2010 had expressed concern that the introduction of charges could act as a disincentive to people to take necessary medicines.

The minister also announced another plan to make savings on drugs for medical card holders by delisting certain products from the list of approved items for reimbursement. He is aiming to shave €10m off costs in this way.