Medical card fiasco - Government that is out of touch

FLOUNDERING in a crisis of its own making, and having lost one TD, the Government risks losing the support of an independent deputy and is facing revolt among grassroots members of Fianna Fáil, a party whose leadership seem increasingly out of touch with public opinion.

The Taoiseach’s belated promise to modify and adapt the controversial medical card proposal in a “fair and comprehensive way” is to be welcomed. But it is unlikely to assuage the fears of elderly people, especially as Mr Cowen is insistent that because of the economic difficulties the principle of means testing medical cards will remain.

A worrying aspect of this controversy is that the Taoiseach, whose performance to date has been far from impressive, seems to lack the popular touch. If the Government foresaw the medical card decision would cause such problems, it was inept to blunder into such a crisis amid justified accusations of mugging the elderly.

By any yardstick, the decision to claw back €100 million by scrapping the automatic right to medical cards for over-70s was a huge political gaffe. Whatever the gloss, the perception is that the knee-jerk decision to modify budgetary policy was triggered more by fear of a backbench revolt, posing a potential threat to the Government’s parliamentary majority, than out of concern for the plight of the elderly.

As evidenced by yesterday’s meeting of councillors in Ballinasloe, the public reaction has concentrated the collective FF mind. In a rare instance of a backbencher putting his money where his mouth is, Joe Behan’s resignation from Fianna Fáil was principled, something seen all too seldom in Irish politics.

Despite delaying his departure for China, it is difficult to see how the Taoiseach’s difficulties can be resolved before the January 1 deadline. Given the protracted nature of medical negotiations, modifying the costly deal struck with doctors will not be easy. With the HSE responsible for means testing 140,000 people, the new year target date looks unrealistic.

Hopefully, the medical profession will be more generous and the Government more realistic than in 2001, when ex-Fianna Fáil finance minister Charlie McCreevy doled out universal medical cards, a ploy designed to capture the grey vote — and it worked.

At the time, not one ministerial voice, including Brian Cowen’s, was raised against the decision to give so-called “gold cards” to retired ministers, judges, consultants, not to mention rich property developers.

Arguably, the wealthy can afford to lose the medical card. But not the tens of thousands of citizens in the middle income bracket, people who saved for a rainy day and are by no means wealthy.

One dilemma facing the Government is that giving way on medical cards will open the door for protests on other unpopular aspects of a budget which has hit the needy, while giving the mega-rich a disproportionately soft ride.

The medical card initiative has penalised vulnerable citizens and the means-test threshold should be raised significantly. Common sense, political sense, and a sense of justice must prevail.