First rise in medical card awards in 16 months ‘for the election’

There was a dramatic spike in the number of discretionary medical cards awarded last month — the first increase since January 2013 — which the opposition claim was for "election purposes".

Department of Health figures show that almost 800 new cards were granted in April, a reversal of the trend of the previous 16 months.

There have been consistent drops in the number of discretionary medical cards, ranging from between 500 and 1,000 a month — bringing the figure down from 62,445 at the start of last year to 49,596 in March 2014.

The figures were provided in response to a Dáil question from Fianna Fáil health spokesman Billy Kelleher, who said there was a “politically motivated” decision to free up cards which had previously been taken away. “The Government has denied for the past year-and-a-half there’s been a change in the policy with regard to the awarding of discretionary medical cards,” he said.

“But clearly when the political pressure came on and it was obvious that there was an election issue, 800 medical cards were granted on a discretionary basis in the month of April, seemingly by coincidence.”

He said ministers were being “economical with the truth” in saying they had no say in the granting of discretionary medical cards, which are processed centrally by the HSE.

“There seems to be a speeding-up of the process for election purposes,” he said.

Mr Kelleher said the increase was “good news for people whose medical cards were restored, but there are thousands out there who are waiting for their applications to be processed and waiting for their appeals to be granted.”

The withdrawal of discretionary medical cards — which are awarded on health needs rather than financial means — was the biggest issue for voters in last week’s local and european election, according to an exit poll on voting day by RTÉ.

The cabinet subcommittee on health will meet today to discuss proposals aimed at addressing the crisis, which has left seriously sick and disabled children without the help they need in accessing their health needs.