Medical card loss sparks Dáil furore

The treatment of vulnerable people losing discretionary medical cards has been criticised by a back-bench Fine Gael TD during a Dáil debate which heard a number of cases where seriously ill children and adults had their cards withdrawn.

Cork East TD Tom Barry said he was “not a fan” of the new centralised process which had “removed local knowledge” from the process of deciding on cards and that people were confused.

“The time has come to define properly what a discretionary medical card is, because I’m not sure. We need to remove the lack of clarity in the area,” he said.

He added that people were waiting for eight months for reviews of their applications and data was “regularly” being lost by the HSE. “This cannot continue,” he told the Dáil.

Mr Barry also called for legislation for a “third-tier” medical card for people with grave illnesses, but said “this is obviously not the current position”.

He was speaking during a debate on the issue, which also heard correspondence from a doctor who said the removal of cards from sick children was “the single most evil thing our society is standing over.”

Sinn Féin health spokesman Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin quoted a GP who said that “if the discretionary medical card issue is not sorted out” she would have “no stomach” for taking part in the free GP care scheme for children under six.

Mr Ó Caoláin said: “People are rightly asking why a healthy child of five can automatically qualify for a free GP card but an older sister or brother with a severe disability, with cancer, or a rare disease, can not.”

The Dáil debate was told of a number of cases, including:

- A man whose card was withdrawn because he was eight cent over the income limit;

- A three-year-old who had a stroke and whose parents could not get a splint for her leg, but said they wasted the same amount of time and money in their dealings with the HSE over the issue;

- An 11-year-old girl who has significant development delays, who is deaf in one ear, non-verbal, has movement delays, and is still in nappies. Her father earns €636 a week and her mother receives the carers’ allowance. They spend €3,000 a year on nappies, €1,000 a year on vests and bedclothes, and their expenses exceed €10,000 a year. The HSE removed her card, which she had for more than 10 years.

- A three-year-old with a rare genetic condition who cannot chew food, is unable to cry, and has seizures lasting up to 40 minutes. She is attending a neurologists, eye and ear specialists, and physiotherapists. Her card was withdrawn before Christmas, even though it is “impossible” for her parents to predict what her medical costs might be;

- A woman with spinal cancer who was called for a review and asked to outline all the expenses that arise from her illness before losing her card;

- A 16-year-old youth who is wheelchair-bound, has frequent epileptic seizures, and cerebral palsy who has had his card removed.