HSE to review all chronic illness cases where medical cards lost

The HSE has been ordered to review all cases of chronically ill people stripped of discretionary medical card help to ensure they can still access the care they need.

Speaking to a cross-party group of TDs and senators, Health Minister James Reilly said that the move is needed due to concerns that people are falling through cracks in the service.

During a discussion on the medical card cull, which has dogged Dr Reilly since July and is set to see another 75,000 cards cut this year, he maintained his insistence that more cards are available now than when he took office.

However, he said that, in order to clarify specific concerns over the discretionary card issue — which involves seriously ill people who wish to receive the supports despite being over the income threshold — a review of cases is needed.

“I’ve asked the HSE to put together a small review group,” he said, adding there is a need to ensure those who lose the cards can still access “the treatment they require”.

While no specific timeline for the review is available, it is expected to take a number of weeks to complete. It is understood that the HSE group will be tasked with examining cases where people with chronic long-term illnesses have been told they can no longer depend on discretionary medical card help, despite reporting no change to their conditions.

The issue includes concerns detailed by the Irish Examiner last week that up to half of children with Down syndrome have lost the support and the group has been “disproportionately” hit by a recent clampdown. Figures detailed by Down Syndrome Ireland last Friday show that approximately 1,000 of the 2,000 children with the condition in this country have lost the help in recent months, and that the long-standing practice of providing them with discretionary support at birth — regardless of their family’s finances — has ceased.

The advocacy group, and those for people suffering from other chronic conditions, have repeatedly warned that removing the care could effectively block those affected from the developmental, physical, and educational services they may need.