What to do in future when you need a doctor?

valpuk

Hi everyone,

Maybe this issue has already been spoken about in previous threads (if it has, my apologies)
I am currently in the most popular club in country (dole cue!) I lost my job the week before Christmas.
Since the Budget I have been pondering over how my lifestyle has changed and indeed will continue to change... M&S and Super Quinn are now a faint memory of the past.
But majority of societies in the country have been affected by the budget and the cuts would it not be right to introduce the same policy towards consultation fees for visiting G.P.'s ???
I am currently unable to get the medical card like alot of people so any G.P. visits and medicines etc will have to be paid for with cold cash. I am not being funny but at the moment my weekly jobseeker benefit would barely stretch to cover my rent, a G.P. consultation fee and possible anti-biotics?
Should cuts not be placed across the board and doctors should open their eyes and make the move to reduce their consultation fees in order to ensure that their patients can continue to afford to look after their health and also by making the sacrafice and reducing their charges they would keep their patients?
My doctor is currently E60.

Just a thought...

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

You are on social welfare, you are automatically entitled to a medical card... Unless things have changed in the past year...

Lizzykins

I heard from somoeone who is recently unemployed that the HSE base your entitlement on previous year's income maybe 2007 or 2006.

K4t

I think it's ridiculous how you have to pay your GP €50 for a prescription for the chemist that you already knew you needed before going to the GP! Infuriating. I only go to the doctor as a last resort nowadays. Usually fight off chest infections myself!

Evolute

K4t wrote: »

I think it's ridiculous how you have to pay your GP €50 for a prescription for the chemist that you already knew you needed before going to the GP! Infuriating. I only go to the doctor as a last resort nowadays. Usually fight off chest infections myself!

Same I havent been to a Doctor in 3 years because I refuse to pay for someone to look at me and tell me I'm sick.
Only time I go to a doctor is in the hospital if Ive broken something and even then I cringe at the thought of how much it costs.

smelltheglove

It is terrible the price, more people should be covered and the time it takes to get a medical card is also stupid. My mother is in a situation where she cant be looked after because she has an interest in the family home which she shared with her ex, they have now split and he does not allow her into the home, my 11 year old brother is a casulty of the situation as my monther now needs to rent at 1200 a month, social told her she would need to be homeless before they house her as she has an interest in this other house. She wouldnt put my brother on the street. And then with regards to the medical card, she has to fight to get the card as again the home situation is putting them off, the fact that she is married his income has to come into account until they are seperated a certain amount of time etc etc etc. So what happens when my brother needs t go to the doctor and she doesnt have the money cos she cant get a job and has to pay huge rent out of life savings?????

I myself had to wait months to get a medical card on my first child and as a single mother I remember searching for pennies just to get my sick baby to the doctor, my brother even used to write me cheques from his business account so I could pay.

Dr Galen

K4t wrote: »

I think it's ridiculous how you have to pay your GP €50 for a prescription for the chemist that you already knew you needed before going to the GP! Infuriating. I only go to the doctor as a last resort nowadays. Usually fight off chest infections myself!

if thats for a repeat prescription i'd agree, it's a bit mad. But most GP's will offer a service where it is much reduced (and even free) for repeats.

Evolute wrote: »

Same I havent been to a Doctor in 3 years because I refuse to pay for someone to look at me and tell me I'm sick.
Only time I go to a doctor is in the hospital if Ive broken something and even then I cringe at the thought of how much it costs.

I think it's very funny how people are willing to question the need to go to a doctor. The amount of people I've seen, that put off and put off going to the doctor, mainly because they think they know best, and who end up actually having serious illnesses is scary. Really you need to catch a grip.

I would agree though that sometimes, just sticking with it and fighting a chest infection without the antibiotics is the best course. People in general though feed this over-prescribing of such medications, people feel that they NEED to come away with a script after a visit, some will even sit there til they get it.

Giving out about the cost of a GP visit will always be around. But thinking about it i had to fork out €300 to a plumber last month to fix something in the house. Makes the GP seem cheap when you compare what they work on.

Dr Galen

smelltheglove wrote: »

It is terrible the price, more people should be covered and the time it takes to get a medical card is also stupid. My mother is in a situation where she cant be looked after because she has an interest in the family home which she shared with her ex, they have now split and he does not allow her into the home, my 11 year old brother is a casulty of the situation as my monther now needs to rent at 1200 a month, social told her she would need to be homeless before they house her as she has an interest in this other house. She wouldnt put my brother on the street. And then with regards to the medical card, she has to fight to get the card as again the home situation is putting them off, the fact that she is married his income has to come into account until they are seperated a certain amount of time etc etc etc. So what happens when my brother needs t go to the doctor and she doesnt have the money cos she cant get a job and has to pay huge rent out of life savings?????

I myself had to wait months to get a medical card on my first child and as a single mother I remember searching for pennies just to get my sick baby to the doctor, my brother even used to write me cheques from his business account so I could pay.

unfortunately situations like this will happen no matter what situation we have. Look across to the NHS, where GP's are free and there is little real benefit to those in the lower socio-economic classes in terms of health.

The whole system, like many others needs radical reform. people like your mother get caught up in the red tape, set out to prevent scammers, even when their intentions are totally legit.

In fairness to you personally though, you mention that your are/were a single mother. Along with other groups, you guys have been slated here recently for being nothing but benefit spongers etc. Looks like you have gone off and tried to make a go of it, Your photography being what I mean here. So fair play. We'd be in a much better situation if others followed your lead!

Milkey Bar Kid

I lived in Germany which has a great system. when you are employed your boss pays your health insurance and if unemployed the Gov pay.
You pay the doctor €10 on your first visit and that will last 3 months if you need to visit him again in that time

brianwalshcork

The german system is great, but you're paying for it, and paying dearly.

The rate was 15.5% of salary in 2008 - 7.3% to be paid by the employer, and 8.2% by the employee.

To put a figure on it, if you earned the average industrial wage of 33,000, then your 8.2% would cover 54 doctors visits @ €50 per visit.... not surprisingly doctors waiting rooms were always full with everyone making the most of it since they were paying anyway.

Nothingbetter2d

if u cant afford a doctor and your not on the dole u gotta roll over and die. thats how it looks from my perspective.

btw most doctors have and still do prescribe placebos ALOT

smelltheglove

Mystik Monkey wrote: »

unfortunately situations like this will happen no matter what situation we have. Look across to the NHS, where GP's are free and there is little real benefit to those in the lower socio-economic classes in terms of health.

The whole system, like many others needs radical reform. people like your mother get caught up in the red tape, set out to prevent scammers, even when their intentions are totally legit.

In fairness to you personally though, you mention that your are/were a single mother. Along with other groups, you guys have been slated here recently for being nothing but benefit spongers etc. Looks like you have gone off and tried to make a go of it, Your photography being what I mean here. So fair play. We'd be in a much better situation if others followed your lead!

Thanks mystik, I am proud of what I achieved. I was a single mother for the first year with my eldest, now I am married, yes there is a BIG stigma around single mothers and I came across it quite strongly, even with people close to me, although I always held my head up high and worked hard for what I wanted. When I saved my arse off to get an affordable house the people there told me I did not earn enough, they advised me to give up work then I would be entitled to rental allowance until I got a council house and would most likely get more money than I was getting from my salary, I was working part time. Thankfully i had a family member high up in a bank and a dad with a few quid to go guarantor and I bought my own house, by myself, yes I could have given in to the stigma but I refused to do so although with the recommendations that weere put to me by the lovely people in the office by the shopping centre I am not surprised so many people do sit by and wait for it to come to them.


Every penny of my benefit went into saving for my house, it then went to pay for my mortgage and when I met my husband and he moved in I voluntarily gave up the benefit as I was no longer entitled to it. There are spongers although not all and it is very disappointing the stigma that is put around single mothers, my dad was a single dad and people praised him, the dads that desert their children and gf or wives get away scot free!

The system does need to change, a huge amount, I know a few who need it, like I said my mother, and cant get anything, and then I have heard some terrible stories of late about people abusing it.

sam34

Nothingbetter2d wrote: »

btw most doctors have and still do prescribe placebos ALOT

can you elaborate on what you mean by this sweeping statement please?

nesf

K4t wrote: »

Infuriating. I only go to the doctor as a last resort nowadays. Usually fight off chest infections myself!

Yeah, I used to have attitude when I was younger, a bout of pneumonia cured me of it.

smelltheglove

nesf wrote: »

Yeah, I used to have attitude when I was younger, a bout of pneumonia cured me of it.

I was similar, I ended up with pluerecy, not sure of the spelling, but if you cant afford to go...... eventually I went and it cost 45 for the first visit and 2 follow ups 25 each.

nesf

smelltheglove wrote: »

I was similar, I ended up with pluerecy, not sure of the spelling, but if you cant afford to go...... eventually I went and it cost 45 for the first visit and 2 follow ups 25 each.

You find the money. You should always have some money put aside to pay for a doctor's visit in case you suddenly get badly ill. Though this is a whole, you should never be living pay cheque to pay cheque point than anything else. If you think it's bad when you're single wait till you have young children who generally need to see GPs a lot more regularly than adults do.

Alfasud

valpuk wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Maybe this issue has already been spoken about in previous threads (if it has, my apologies)
I am currently in the most popular club in country (dole cue!) I lost my job the week before Christmas.
Since the Budget I have been pondering over how my lifestyle has changed and indeed will continue to change... M&S and Super Quinn are now a faint memory of the past.
But majority of societies in the country have been affected by the budget and the cuts would it not be right to introduce the same policy towards consultation fees for visiting G.P.'s ???
I am currently unable to get the medical card like alot of people so any G.P. visits and medicines etc will have to be paid for with cold cash. I am not being funny but at the moment my weekly jobseeker benefit would barely stretch to cover my rent, a G.P. consultation fee and possible anti-biotics?
Should cuts not be placed across the board and doctors should open their eyes and make the move to reduce their consultation fees in order to ensure that their patients can continue to afford to look after their health and also by making the sacrafice and reducing their charges they would keep their patients?
My doctor is currently E60.

Just a thought...

There is such a thing as a GP card try your local health centre for an application form. It covers GP visits but not the chemist if you are under a certain income Its not a medical card Its relatively new. Good luck

Alfasud

Doctors should take a cut. People are neglecting themselves. People with medical cards dont know how lucky they are.

TequilaMockingBird

smelltheglove wrote: »

It is terrible the price, more people should be covered and the time it takes to get a medical card is also stupid. My mother is in a situation where she cant be looked after because she has an interest in the family home which she shared with her ex, they have now split and he does not allow her into the home, my 11 year old brother is a casulty of the situation as my monther now needs to rent at 1200 a month, social told her she would need to be homeless before they house her as she has an interest in this other house. She wouldnt put my brother on the street. And then with regards to the medical card, she has to fight to get the card as again the home situation is putting them off, the fact that she is married his income has to come into account until they are seperated a certain amount of time etc etc etc. So what happens when my brother needs t go to the doctor and she doesnt have the money cos she cant get a job and has to pay huge rent out of life savings?????

I myself had to wait months to get a medical card on my first child and as a single mother I remember searching for pennies just to get my sick baby to the doctor, my brother even used to write me cheques from his business account so I could pay.

Your mother needs to pay her medical bills out of her "life savings". Er.. yes. Yes, she does.

You bought a house, while on benefits, because you know someone "very high up in the bank".

You "voluntarily" gave up your benefits when you married? No, it's the law that you give up those benefits.


EDIT: Apologies OP, I forgot about you!
Go and see your local Social Welfare Officer. If you are not entitled to a medical card (which, I think, barring assets, you should be), you will be entitled to a GP card.

smelltheglove

TequilaMockingBird wrote: »

Your mother needs to pay her medical bills out of her "life savings". Er.. yes. Yes, she does.

You bought a house, while on benefits, because you know someone "very high up in the bank".

You "voluntarily" gave up your benefits when you married? No, it's the law that you give up those benefits.


EDIT: Apologies OP, I forgot about you!
Go and see your local Social Welfare Officer. If you are not entitled to a medical card (which, I think, barring assets, you should be), you will be entitled to a GP card.

I voluntarily gave up my benefits when my boyfriend who is now my husband moved in with me. There was nobody standing over me saying, look now is the time to stop, I would have to had to give them up when I married, yues, but that was another 2 years down the line.

I bought a house while on lone parents as my sister was a mortgage consultant. I received lone parents and fis and I also worked as a part time supermarket supervisor. I worked 4 days per week and every penny I received I was entitled to.

This is the attitude that people in my position come up against, everything I got I was entitled to. But instead of going to the pub every week I stayed home, instead of buying new outfits I didnt, my baby got all her clothes in pennys unless otherwise bought for her and we both lived on roughly 80 euro per week to include baby milk and nappies, everything else was first put into savings and secondly put into mortgage when I got it.

Would you like to know how much my mortgage cost????? Would you like to know how much the house cost???? Or hang on, maybe I should show some bank statements so I can prove it.....

Being a lone parent does not need to be the end of the world, it does not mean you will never afford anything, I just bit my tongue and worked and saved hard to get what I felt my child deserved but attitudes like the one you have just given often left me in tears, including the time someone reported me for benefit fraud and I was investigated, I didnt receive one payment I was not entitled to, I just budgeted as well as I could and as stated previously I even ended up with pluerecy by not going to the doctor, reasons being by the time I got fis I was no longer entitled to the medical card, gp card I dont think was available at the time, and if I had have gone to the doctor I would a) not have enough to pay the mortgage or b) not have enough to feed my child. Eventually my banking sister lent me some money to go to the doctor as I was so badly sick!


Anymore questions?

K4t

nesf wrote: »

Yeah, I used to have attitude when I was younger, a bout of pneumonia cured me of it.

Easy tiger. :rolleyes:

But it is quite ludicrous to have to give a doctor €50 for a prescription for an antibiotic that you knew you needed before going into his office. That's all I'm saying, there's no reason to get tetchy.

nesf

K4t wrote: »

But it is quite ludicrous to have to give a doctor €50 for a prescription for an antibiotic that you knew you needed before going into his office. That's all I'm saying, there's no reason to get tetchy.

You miss my point. Most of the time it's just a regular chest infection and yeah you just need a dose of a standard antibiotic for a few days. The problem is that a minority of the time it's actually something more serious and if caught early you can avoid a far nastier situation or being hospitalised. You go to the doctor to rule out things as much as get the prescription.