Consultant fee: have medica card?

Badhb

I'm hoping someone here may be able to help me with my query.

After many years of a horrible sleeping disorder, which has caused me to lose jobs, opportunities, friends and social engagements, I begged my GP to see if she could set up an appointment with a sleep specialist.

As she had seen what I had been through, and although all the normal tests came back negative, and other routes explored, she has finally managed to get me an appointment with the only sleep specialist in Ireland, at the end of February.

However, this sleep specialist costs €180, even for the initial consultation. There is no way I can make this. My illness benefit runs out at the beginning of February, and I will have to go back onto Jobseekers Allowance after that.

I have a medical card. Is there anyway I can get to see this consultant with my medical card?
I am desperate to see this sleep specialist, but I have no way to beg, borrow nor steal the money to see her? Is there any way or scheme I may not be aware of that could help me out here??

Balagan

Has the consultant's receptionist told you that you can't be seen/treated under the medical card? If the answer is no, have you asked if they would give you a reduced fee?

Perhaps if you could manage to somehow get the money together to get a diagnosis from this specialist, you could, armed with that, be referred by your GP to a hospital which might be able to treat that condition on the medical card. A lot of the hospitals have sleep disorder clinics now - most especially in the case of apnoea (though the clinics may well cover other sleep disorders also) - and if that was your issue you should be able to acccess care at one or other of the hospitals which treat medical card patients. http://www.isat.ie/sleep_clinics/sleep_clinics.html

Badhb

Thanks Balagan for your reply. The answer is no, a reduced fee is not possible.

I did ask if there was anyway I could be seen through the public system, but she said that one of the measures introduced in the last budget was stopping this!
She said there were 8-900 people waiting to be seen under referrals from the Neurology and Respitary depts of hospitals, yet they have been told that these referrals were no longer allowed under the new measures.

I am at a loss at what to do know. My illness benefit runs out on 9th Feb. I haven't a hope in hell of disability allowance, attitudes towards mental illness may be bad in this country, but they are absolutely hopeless towards sleeping disorders.

The only person in the country who deals with this particular disorder I have is this consultant.
However, I am facing these huge rent ceiling limits, and any spare euros I have goes towards saving for the top up, not legal, I know.
But unfortunately I don't have a choice in my case. Can't afford to move, let alone am able, nor want to. Took me so long to find somewhere habitable long term last year.

Anyway, have no choice but to sign on to Jobseekers allowance on the day after my illness benefit runs out. I have no choice but to lie and say I am genuinely able to take up work.

I just wish there was some way I could see this specialist consultant with my medical card. I simply cannot afford the €180, and subsequent fees of that amount.

cee_jay

You don't need to claim Jobseekers - if your stamps run out, you can keep handing in certs stating you are unfit for work, and go to your Community Welfare Officer for payment.
You should also apply for Disability Allowance if you are not fit - let them decide if you are entitled or not, don't presume.

snollup

Hi OP, have you considered asking the Vincent de Paul for assistance. I know that once its genuine they are very approachable. It is quite possible that if you were to explain your circumstances they may pay the consultance fee for you.

Pharaoh1

Having been in a similar situation a few years ago I have some idea of what you are going through.
Have you tried the Exceptional Needs payment see link
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/supplementary_welfare_schemes/exceptional_needs_payments.html

Surely this is exactly what this is there to cater for.

In my case my family helped me out quite a bit but maybe this avenue is not open to you.

Badhb

cee_jay wrote: »

You don't need to claim Jobseekers - if your stamps run out, you can keep handing in certs stating you are unfit for work, and go to your Community Welfare Officer for payment.
You should also apply for Disability Allowance if you are not fit - let them decide if you are entitled or not, don't presume.

Thank you very much for this information, Cee Jay. I simply was not aware of this. Can you or anybody else tell me is it better to wait to apply for Disability Allowance until you have a confirmed diagnosis from a consultant? I don't want to apply be rejected than apply again-or does that make any difference?

snollup wrote: »

Hi OP, have you considered asking the Vincent de Paul for assistance. I know that once its genuine they are very approachable. It is quite possible that if you were to explain your circumstances they may pay the consultance fee for you.

Yikes. I always consider VdeP to be the last port of call if I could not afford to feed myself nor pay electricity. True, I would have difficulty doing that if I paid the consultants' fee. However, the problem is I don't know how may consultants fees I may have to pay.

Pharaoh1 wrote: »

Having been in a similar situation a few years ago I have some idea of what you are going through.
Have you tried the Exceptional Needs payment see link
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/supplementary_welfare_schemes/exceptional_needs_payments.html

Surely this is exactly what this is there to cater for.

In my case my family helped me out quite a bit but maybe this avenue is not open to you.

Another route to explore, thank you. I was told straight out not to bother applying last year, when I was moving out of shared accomodation to living on my own, and I needed help with some basics. But still, its something else to ask my CWO about. If you don't mind me asking was it a sleep disorder or a vague/hard to diagnose debilitating illness you had?

Kristopherus

V de P are unlikely to assist with a private consultation.And Exceptional Needs Payments are being severely curtailed by Brutal Joan:( .OP, you have decided to go to a private Consultant. In doing that you have left the public system and are responsible for all that Consultant's fees. This is not meant as a criticism of you. I'm well aware that there is/was only one sleep specialist in this country. But when you go private, you have to pay.Could you talk to your GP about going North? I'm sure it will be cheaper. Also there's a good chance that there's more expertise there than here.
Re Disability Allowance. There is currently a 4-month waiting list just to have your application looked at. Add in another couple of months to be medically assessed - you may be as well off to just send in certs and see if Welfare will be able to give you a quick referral to another scheme. Best of luck with it all.

Badhb

Kristopherus wrote: »

V de P are unlikely to assist with a private consultation.And Exceptional Needs Payments are being severely curtailed by Brutal Joan:( .OP, you have decided to go to a private Consultant. In doing that you have left the public system and are responsible for all that Consultant's fees.

I haven't done the 'deed' as such just yet.
The appointment is still weeks away.
I understand what you mean though, if I am right -you are saying, that I have to enter through the public system, in order to be seen again without being expected to pay €180 per visit.
However, how does this work since the receptionist has told me that since the last budget there are no further referrals allowed through the public system, despite there being a 8-900 person waiting list, as she mentioned?

Kristopherus wrote: »

This is not meant as a criticism of you. I'm well aware that there is/was only one sleep specialist in this country. But when you go private, you have to pay.Could you talk to your GP about going North? I'm sure it will be cheaper. Also there's a good chance that there's more expertise there than here.

The only other sleep specialist of this particular disorder is based in Oxford. However, I have been told that this particular consultant is the one to see.

Kristopherus wrote: »

Re Disability Allowance. There is currently a 4-month waiting list just to have your application looked at. Add in another couple of months to be medically assessed - you may be as well off to just send in certs and see if Welfare will be able to give you a quick referral to another scheme. Best of luck with it all.

thanks. There is no other scheme I can see that is remotely possible, but then again, I did not even realise that I could continue sending in the certs, and go to my CWO for SWA. Still, I am reluctant to apply for DA when I can not even get an official diagnosis due to the rules.

saa

Wait you have to come off illness benefit when you run out of stamps? Even if you're still ill........what?