Medical Card Holders being charged for blood tests???

dubscribe

I was at my doctor's yesterday and there's a new sign up that says from 1 Jan 2014, due to cutbacks, all medical holders will now have to pay 10 euro for non-emergency blood tests?

I have diabetes 2 and have to have my bloods checked every 3 months!!!

Is this ONLY in my surgery or is it happening in all surgeries around the country?

If someone else out there knows, please tell me.

Thanks
dubscribe

Spook_ie

Our surgery here in Dublin started charging Med Card/GP visit card holders January of last year ! and having talked to friends over the year, its seems fairly standard now to charged for ALL bloods, not just routine.

Dubl07

Same here but my GP can fill in forms for a blood test to be done at the local hospital's phlebotomy clinic.

dubscribe

Thanks Spook_ie, so really I should be grateful it's only come in here this year, but the truth is money is SO TIGHT with me already I'm stressed about finding another 10 euro from my limited budget! Had it only been in my own practise I was seriously contemplating moving surgeries, but that doesn't seem an option now.

dubscribe

Dubl07, that is great news. Thanks for that

kangaroo

My GP won't do blood tests for medical card patients (but will do them for private patients for a fee). In my own case, I would have paid E10 sometimes rather than having to go down to the local hospital. As was pointed out, I'd be pretty sure you can get it for free at the local hospital/similar. Indeed private patients should be able to get it there for free also.

echo beach

dubscribe wrote: »

I have diabetes 2 and have to have my bloods checked every 3 months!!!

Off topic I know but have you applied for a Long Term Illness card? You will be able to get your diabetic meds without having to pay the 2.50 an item levy which would be some help to your pocket.
You can get an application form on the HSE website or from your doctor.

ash23

Same as. I have to have regular bloods done because of medication I am on for MS. I've been charged €20 a time except for where I've had them done twice in one month as they only charge per month even if you have them repeated.
I can get them done for free at the hospital but between the cost of getting there, parking charges and time off work, it's much cheaper to pay the €20.

dubscribe

ash23 wrote: »

Same as. I have to have regular bloods done because of medication I am on for MS. I've been charged €20 a time except for where I've had them done twice in one month as they only charge per month even if you have them repeated.
I can get them done for free at the hospital but between the cost of getting there, parking charges and time off work, it's much cheaper to pay the €20.

Yes, that would be my consideration too. I live a good distance out from Wexford General Hospital. Bus fare would be E9.50 return, and I'd probably have to wait for hours.... Probably best I somehow find the money in my budget!

dubscribe

dubscribe

echo beach wrote: »

Off topic I know but have you applied for a Long Term Illness card? You will be able to get your diabetic meds without having to pay the 2.50 an item levy which would be some help to your pocket.
You can get an application form on the HSE website or from your doctor.

As it happens, I only got my card last week!
My pharmacist kindly wrote to me and advised me that diabetics could now apply, which I did.

They only allowed me 3 or my 4 medical requirements but still, a huge help.


dubscribe

wotaccent

echo beach wrote: »

Off topic I know but have you applied for a Long Term Illness card? You will be able to get your diabetic meds without having to pay the 2.50 an item levy which would be some help to your pocket.
You can get an application form on the HSE website or from your doctor.

Gosh, we didn't know this! My husband is type 1 diabetic and we've been paying the levy for his prescribed medications since charges were introduced.

dubscribe

wotaccent wrote: »

Gosh, we didn't know this! My husband is type 1 diabetic and we've been paying the levy for his prescribed medications since charges were introduced.

Don't worry, I've been paying since the charges came in too. However, as I said, my pharmacist recently wrote to me and told me that diabetes is now included on the list for a long-term illness card. My guess is that it only came into being Jan 2014.

I was sent the form by my pharmacist, so check with yours. Otherwise, get it from your local health centre, fill it in, return it and you should get your card within about 6-8 weeks.

There is a section on the form where your doctor has to fill in, confirming you have diabetes.

As they say "every little helps"

dubscribe

wotaccent

Thanks, dubscribe, much appreciated! Just last week he sent off his renewal form for his medical card as his was selected for review, so hopefully this card will help if it's taken off him. Even though we're both in low-paying jobs now, you can never be sure how it's going to go. Thanks again

locum-motion

dubscribe wrote: »

... diabetes is now included on the list for a long-term illness card. My guess is that it only came into being Jan 2014.
...

Diabetes has always been one of the relevant illnesses. What has changed is HSE policy. Previous policy was that - where a patient had both GMS eligibility and LTI eligibility to for the same medicine - the pharmacy had to make use of the GMS eligibility and could not use the LTI eligibility.

dubscribe

locum-motion wrote: »

Diabetes has always been one of the relevant illnesses. What has changed is HSE policy. Previous policy was that - where a patient had both GMS eligibility and LTI eligibility to for the same medicine - the pharmacy had to make use of the GMS eligibility and could not use the LTI eligibility.

Thanks for explaining that. I guess it was irrelevant until those on GMS cards were being charged for each item on their prescription. In my case it was costing 10 euro a month. At least now with the LTI card that's reduced to 5 euro a month. May not sound a lot to some people, however for others, like myself, where every penny is counted as you try make ends meet, it is a help.

Eurovisionmad

DOn't have a medical card myself but it is in my GP's surgery in Cork that they charge for blood tests.

Kristopherus

Illnesses covered by the LTI card are listed here: http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/1/schemes/lti/

GerardKeating

wotaccent wrote: »

Gosh, we didn't know this! My husband is type 1 diabetic and we've been paying the levy for his prescribed medications since charges were introduced.

Before prescriptions charges, one used to have to give up the LTI book when one got the full medical card. Don't think that has changed.

locum-motion

GerardKeating wrote: »

Before prescriptions charges, one used to have to give up the LTI book when one got the full medical card. Don't think that has changed.

Not strictly speaking true.
A person didn't cease to be eligible under the LTI when they got a Medical Card, because, let's face it, they didn't cease to have diabetes/epilepsy/whatever.
However, the HSE used to cancel their LTI cards anyway, arguing that they no longer needed their LTI card. From time to time, though, a person would need something for their diabetes that isn't covered under the Medical Card (such as pre-injection swabs). So, such items were always still covered under the LTI. Since the recent policy change, all the patient has to do is ring up the HSE and have them remove the 'cancellation date' from the file. The staff seem to be pretty amenable to the "the patient never ceased having diabetes, so they never ceased to be eligible" argument.

GerardKeating

locum-motion wrote: »

Not strictly speaking true.

Might not be true, but it is printed on the back of the LTI book, at least for the old blue Western Health boards ones.

locum-motion

GerardKeating wrote: »

Might not be true, but it is printed on the back of the LTI book, at least for the old blue Western Health boards ones.

I'll have to have a look at the back of one of the green MidWestern ones tomorrow.

logail

Spook_ie wrote: »

Our surgery here in Dublin started charging Med Card/GP visit card holders January of last year ! and having talked to friends over the year, its seems fairly standard now to charged for ALL bloods, not just routine.

I read that it is ILLEGAL for GPs to charge for routine blood tests and that YOU CAN REPORT them to the HSE.
GPs have been warned already about this.

Spook_ie

logail wrote: »

I read that it is ILLEGAL for GPs to charge for routine blood tests and that YOU CAN REPORT them to the HSE.
GPs have been warned already about this.

Really ? wow...I have a GP visit card and was charged 10 euros 2 weeks ago for a blood test and there's a sign up saying its 20 euros for private patients

my3cents

There is no charge for blood tests to the GP, all blood testing in Ireland is free. Only specialist tests that have to be done abroad carry any cost. So for most blood tests the GP is charging for their administrative costs.