Irish Medical Card

irishguiness

Hi all,

need some advice here.

The situation is:
My father in law is Irish, my mother in law is British. My father in law went to England, worked and lived there for over 50 yrs. Both my in laws came to Ireland to retire 3.5 years ago. My father in law went to smthg like health office, filled out forms for medical card months ago but he's not heard anything back. he was told by the officer that under eu regulation, they r entitled to the medical card and the one card should cover both him and my mother in law.

Meanwhile my mother in law had a tragic mini stroke few months ago, had to be taken to hospital, stayed for few days, she still has ongoing checkups and treatment and just last week she had a heart treatment. She just received a bill from the hospital for that treatment. She called the hospital telling them that they should claim the bill to the NHS but the hospital said that they can only do that for 3 months and 3 months has passed since her mini stroke.

My mother in law keeps her British passport, does not possess an Irish passport, has PPS number.
My father in law is 72, my mother in law is 66.

Now my questions are:
1.dont the NHS cover your medical bill wherever u live (for as long as u're British)?
2. can anyone give me anything, any law on NHS stating that they dont cover ur medical bill unless they reside in UK? while im looking as well.
3. how long does it take for the medical card to be processed?
4. As my father in law was told by the officer that under eu regulation, they r entitled to the medical card, especially my father in law a he is irish and over 70. is there a law stating this? kindly share.

thx so much. they r desperate for answers.

Balagan

There's a promise to speed up Medical Cards processing for over 70's to 15 days after all required info has been supplied.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0817/1224276973793.html