Cllr. Peter Ormond has called for a review of the Medical Card system and stated that he is unindated with people who have lost their medical cards in the last three months. Cllr. Ormond stated that following the budget their has been a review of all medical card holders and we have seen a huge amount of them been refused. In the HSE budget, there was a reduction in the medical card budget and we are now seeing that being implemented with cuts to peoples medical cards.
Cllr. Ormond stated that people with sick children over the age of 5 are being refused to people who are over 85 years of age being refused. The criteria seems to be completely changed and the majority of reviews don't take medical evidence into account.
Cllr. Ormond also stated that the nationalisation of the system has been nothing short of a disaster. We have people based in a warehouse in Finglas in Dublin who have no access to files. When you contact them, they have to send the query somewhere else. There is also a huge problem with the amount of information that is required and we have people who have to submit the same information over and over again. Also when you are appealing the decision, you have to appeal to an office in Donegal.
The medical card issue has now become a real worry for people. We have people who are just over social welfare limits and have serious illnesses and they are now expected to pay for a monthly visit to the doctor and to purchase medication after that. For these people, something else will be short as there is not enough money to go around. Cllr. Ormond stated that he has expressed these views to the Ministers office in recent days and is waiting for a response.
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