Charged by doctor even though I have a medical card?

Elessar wrote: »

Can anyone advise here. I went to my doctor today (have been with him for years) to get a medical form signed for a truck licence. I have been on a medical card with him for about 6 months. I was with him for no more than 3 minutes. When I checked out the receptionist informed me that these medical forms are not covered by the medical card and I had to pay 60 euro!

I was gobsmacked. I feel this is grossly unfair. My GP is paid through the HSE (annually IIRC) for any appointments I may make during the year. Are they allowed to charge money to people under medical cards? I thought medical cards covered any visit to your GP? Am I right to be annoyed about this?! Surely they can't pick and choose what to charge you for? The fact that I was in and out of his office in literally 3 minutes just adds insult to injury. 60 euro!!

I paid it because I needed the licence ASAP but I got recepits. Does anyone know where I stand with this?

A medical card issued by the Health Service Executive (HSE) allows the holder to receive certain health services free of charge.

A medical form for a truck licence is not one of them.

Among the services that the GP must provide for medical card holders are:

Consultation services at the GP's surgery or at your home as appropriate
Proper and necessary treatment of a kind normally undertaken by a general practitioner; this is a matter of individual medical judgement but it also includes services such as immunisation and vaccination for children
Required medical certificates, e.g., for application for social welfare payments and for absence from work. The medical card covers the issue of the first and final medical certificate to explain work absence. Other medical certificates may have to be paid for but the Department of Social and Family Affairs makes a payment for medical certificates for application for social welfare payments.
Prescriptions for drugs, medicines and appliances as required. In some cases, GPs must dispense the drugs and medicines. You are entitled to have this service if the GP has only one practice centre and it is three miles or more from the nearest retail pharmacist. Doctors who dispense drugs and medicines under these arrangements are sometimes called "dispensing doctors". In some parts of the country, the doctor's surgery is still known as the "dispensary" even if the doctor is not a dispensing doctor.
There are certain services that GPs are not obliged to provide free of charge, for example, eye tests for a driving licence or for life assurance

http://www.dohc.ie/public/information/gp_services/gp_services_to_medical_card_holders

i went to my gp for the flu vac,i am a holder of a medical card yet the gp wanted 30euro.
im with this gp for the last year ,my old gp used to give me the jab free provided my gms card was up to date.
i left surgery the and had a think about paying as im unemployed i couldnt come up with the money out of the blue ,but at the same time i questioned why was my new gp wanting money when my old gp never did.
i thought the vac came under the medical card scheme in order to keep the spread of the virus to a minimum.

With that i made a phone call to the H.S.E and asked them does my gms card cover me for the flu jab,i just wanted a yes or no answer.
I could not get one they gave me the number for the PRIMARY CARE here where i live which is in co. limerick,i asked them the same question .
They gave me the number for the PRIMARY CARE in dublin .
I rang them and they couldnt give me a straight answer on the issue either so they transfered me back to the H.S.E here in limerick ,who told me it was a PRIMARY CARE issue.

So i went to my local health nurse who rang another GP and asked him does he charge for the vac,he said there is a standard charge of 15euro .
And thats for the administration of the vac.
I asked my own GP what the 30euro charge was for ,he said it was for the vac and not for the administration of it.
My GP said he was paying for the vac ,But my local health nurse rang another GP who said the GPs are issued the vac and dont pay for it .
But the whole issue of payment was at the GPs own descretion.

SO am i to take it that GPs can charge what they like for the flu vac even though they themselves dont pay for it and are paid for the consultation through my gms card.???
Also i think the H.S.E very vague on what comes under the medical card scheme and what does not.

I know this is long wnded but i felt i had to explain in this fashion in order to get my point across and that is im very confused as to what i should do .
Should i pay or not,any info on this would be greatly appreciated.

i got the royal run around from people whos job it is to know this stuff and i had to come here to get an answer to my question so in that respect i cannot thank you enough hdowney.

personally i think everybody with a medical card should avail of the vac free and those without should pay a minimal cost because at the end of the day everybody is at risk from the flu.

i still dont get how one gp will charge and the other wont ,that just doesnt make sense to me.