Medical card renewal problem.

mlumley

I held a Medical card that ran out in August. I had moved and forgot to tell the local office. When I went to tell them with the pink form filled in, they said they would contact Dublin and tell them my new address. Two days later, i got a letter telling me my card had expired and to fill in the enclosed form and send it to the address given on the form. I did this that day and sent it off. About 2 weeks later i got a text telling me that my card would be processed within 30 days, and gave a ref no. It has been over 30 days, so tuesday i phoned and gave my PPS no, the guy told me that they had no renewal request on their system. I told him i had inadvertantly deleated the text from them. He told me their was no request on the system so no aplication could have been recieved. I asked why did i get a text off them and was told, no request for renewal has been recieved by them.

Has any one else had this problem with them?

I need my card due to long tern disability, I have Arthritis in both hips, one knee, 3 compressed disks and a slipped disk and in constant pain. I cant afford the 50€ to see the dr, or the cost of pain killers.

Any advice would be greatfull as they are quoting 6 week waiting time.

danjo-xx

Hi Mlumley,

That is very annoying but don't worry. All though the date on your card has passed and if you haven't received a letter saying your card was cancelled/withdrawn then it is probably still 'active' You can check this out on the link below under 'Card Status'

The welfare officer at your local health centre no longer deals with Medical cards its all handled in Dublin now.

You can apply on-line now https://www.sspcrs.ie/portal/medapp/
which may help process it faster and you will be given a reference number which you can use to track the status of your application and you can also submit a query if you need to.

They claim to process applications in about 4 weeks, but it can take longer if they need further documentation from you but at least your still in the system.

mlumley

Thanks danjo, i'll give it a try. Didnt know about the website link.

maryk123

ring back medical cards in dublin tomorrow and ask again tell them what you were told by the first person and if you dont get help ask for supervisor - there is always a supervisor around - they are an absolute disaster but if you push it further you will get a response.

ok its your fault you didnt change the address but now you have reapplied and have been told 2 different things - ring if you dont get anywhere dont be afraid to ask for supervisor and dont take the line there isnt one available ask for the persons name you are talking to and insist you speak to supervisor.

the worst thing that happened was to centralise medical cards.

danjo-xx

I tried to ring them and got the usual press 1 for this press 2 for that eventually was given the number of my local health centre and when I rang them was told it has nothing to do with them and that I should not have been referred to them.

:mad:

maryk123

keep doing that the press 1 etc we have all done that but keep pressing it and stay on the line and eventually you have to get someone

mlumley

Thanks for the replies folks. Tried ringing them back, and now told number not in service :eek:. What do you have to do in this country to get what your entited to? I'll give it another try tomorrow.

mrsbyrne

Im ringing for one reason or another everyday and have no bother getting through at all, and never waiting any more than a minute or two tops.

mlumley

mrsbyrne wrote: »

Im ringing for one reason or another everyday and have no bother getting through at all, and never waiting any more than a minute or two tops.

Thaks for the reply. I got through today, I had the wrong number, nearly sorted thanks again for all whi helped.

Sidetracker

Hi MLUMLEY, dont take your treatment as anything personal, its par for the course.
They are being extreemly picky at the moment. My Wife and I have Medical Cards which expire end November. We applied in plenty of time for renewals and nothing in our circumstances has changed. Its going on two (2) months now and still no sign of white smoke. They have written for further details, which we have sent. Then they write for more information. At this stage we have had requests for further details on four (4) occasions, and as I have stated, nothing in our situation has changed from last year. It could drive you nuts.

Wonderstruck

HSE sent us a LETTER with the reference number, and we checked it online and yet no such number existed when we rang them which we did weekly for 5 weeks!
:rolleyes:

Also same thing happened to two of my friends!

They are making us start from scratch, god I hate the public service so much!

chazzywhazz

hi im with you on this, medical card centralisation to Dublin has been a complete disaster you get through tho a very nice person on a phone that has all the authority of a peanut. they cant put you through, dont ring you back, send querys to the gods above them and then tell you nothing all the time wasting your credit.

i have an issue i am over limits for wages but for the past 3 years have received medical card due to illness, its long term but not on there magic list of long term illness that automatically get cards. i have applied for my review since April.. madness i know now my extended card to october after much arguing is up and they still havent said yes or no only communicated to me that they need this and that. yet no sign of any answear. i am on low wages for a 32hour job not loaded now lucky to have a job.when im out sick i dont get paid only social welfare at least missed wks this year due to illness.
i am just totally sick of the worry associated with waiting. i cant get private insurance as it is pre exsisting illness so they won tcover it or anything that can be associated with it which seems to be everything in the insurances eyes.

Sidetracker

Hi Chazzywhazz, I feel for you on this one. I am in exactly same situation. Age 69, 3 long term illnesses, dont automatically qualify for Medical Card. Eventially I got one, after a lot of pleading. Now I managed to get a one month extension, to end December, whilst they still deal with it. My only advice to you is, keep phoning and keep the cool. They hold all the ACES, no point depressing yourself further, you will succeed.

BUBBLES1978

Sidetracker wrote: »

Hi MLUMLEY, dont take your treatment as anything personal, its par for the course.
They are being extreemly picky at the moment. My Wife and I have Medical Cards which expire end November. We applied in plenty of time for renewals and nothing in our circumstances has changed. Its going on two (2) months now and still no sign of white smoke. They have written for further details, which we have sent. Then they write for more information. At this stage we have had requests for further details on four (4) occasions, and as I have stated, nothing in our situation has changed from last year. It could drive you nuts.

very same for me my situation hasnt changed but wait for it......i sent in my renewal in june and they still havnt sorted it for me i ring every day had sent in additional documentation three times as they seem to mislay mine everytime. I have offered to send it on a pdf document so they can print it down themselves but oh no that cant be done its a focking disgrace. rang again this morning talk about a "computer says no!!" moment they havnt a clue what they are doing !!!!

mlumley

I have been on to my TD, waste of time.

Got the run arround tuesday, mneed more info. Crap, all sent but they lost the details.

Given a number, dont work on the site, I'm not there :eek:.

Cant waite till new year, compensation should come through. First thing I am buying with it si a one way ticket out of this s**t hole of a country.:D:D:D

I hope you all fare better than me, good luck, youll need it.:mad:

Sidetracker

Hi. I got my new Medical Card in the post this morning, and guess what, I also got a letter requesting more information, so they could process my new Card as quickly as possible. It takes the biscuit.

wmpdd3

I have e-mail them from the site 3 times looking for a reference number for an application I sent in Nov, still no answer. We are so scared, we have enough money for a trip to A&E in an envelope in the house just in case.

Sidetracker

Hi wmpdd3, have you tried phoning them @ 1890 252919 (free phone). They do answer and they are very helpful. After a week of phoning, every second day, I got my Card and my Wife got hers. At the moment, there seems to be a bit of a love offensive on with the HSE. Try it.

Vadge

Bumping this old thread in the hope someone can help...

My MC expired last month. Its something I just happened to notice.
When trying to renew it here, Im hitting a hurdle straight away - its looking for some kind of PIN that apparently the HSE were supposed to supply me with (is this correct?), but recieved no such correspondence. Anyone any idea what I am to do?

Cushie Butterfield

Vadge wrote: »

Bumping this old thread in the hope someone can help...

My MC expired last month. Its something I just happened to notice.
When trying to renew it here, Im hitting a hurdle straight away - its looking for some kind of PIN that apparently the HSE were supposed to supply me with (is this correct?), but recieved no such correspondence. Anyone any idea what I am to do?

First you should check the status of your card by entering the card number in the box & clicking Check Identifier https://www.sspcrs.ie/portal/checker/home.do just in case a new card was posted to you & not received.

Either way you'll have to contact them to enquire as to what's going on: https://www.sspcrs.ie/portal/medapp/contact.jsp , or ring 1890 252 919 or contact your Local Health Office.

Fred Swanson

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