Up to 75,000 face losing medical card

Up to 75,000 medical card holders will be stripped of the vital support from January — including 25,000 who will lose out as a direct result of the HSE’s highly controversial “probity” review.

Half of all cards currently in place will also come under intense scrutiny as part of a “risk assessed” review of 1m people receiving the support.

The details are revealed in the HSE 2014 Service Plan which, despite confirming the cut will “save” €23m instead of the previously planned €113m, has outlined exactly what problems card holders face next year.