Parents Medical Card Issues

jeffk

The parents (both in their 70s) applied for a renewal on their medical card in the sumer. They got all the paperwork and sent it in and got a card up till 2016.
Then last week the mother was told it was expired and when she rang the medical card place she was told they sent out a letter in July (which we never got).

So they are reapplying again, but are getting the run around with the paperwork with pensions etc and its going to take at least a month. In that time they have to get medicine as the mother is a diabetic and the father had a heart attack.

Has anyone heard of a medical card being issued and then being told sorry it’s expired/under review?

And

Is there any way around paying for the medicine? The mother has a green book for her diabetic stuff and we are looking into similar for the father, but that won’t cover everything

endofrainbow

I would double check the status of their cards online and pursue it from there

Cushie Butterfield

They should apply for Drugs Payment Scheme Cards: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/health/entitlement_to_health_services/drugs_payment_scheme.html

Your mother's diabetic meds would be covered under her LTI card anyway so she should continue to use this for her diabetic meds, but any other approved prescribed meds that either of them have to pay for until such a time that their medical cards are re-instated would be capped at €144 per month. It's best for them to always use the same pharmacy as they keep track of their monthly spend, & avoids having to apply for refunds if using different pharmacies.

jeffk

Thanks for the replies/info

Endofrainbow
They are still waiting for paperwork to send in the application. They rang some place in Sligo about the pension on Tuesday, where told it was posted, rang Friday and the person didn’t exist and could it take weeks to come out

Cushie Butterfield
They are going for the medical card to cover the doctor and medicine so there is no grey area on what is covered
Yes the chemist told us about the monthly cap thanks, think they pay around €30 between them a week
They are with a local pharmacy about two years and they are very helpful, they suggested my Mother use the green book to ease the cost

Cushie Butterfield

She should continue to use the LTI book for any meds covered by it even after her medical card is re-instated as she would avoid paying the €2.50 per item (max €25 per month) dispensing charge payable by medical card holders.

jeffk

Cushie Butterfield wrote: »

She should continue to use the LTI book for any meds covered by it even after her medical card is re-instated as she would avoid paying the €2.50 per item (max €25 per month) dispensing charge payable by medical card holders.

How does this work? Do they go to the chemist and say heres my LTI book for these and the medical card for the rest and pay the €2.50 per item on them?

The mother was always of the understanding its one or the other

Cushie Butterfield

jeffk wrote: »

How does this work? Do they go to the chemist and say heres my LTI book for these and the medical card for the rest and pay the €2.50 per item on them?

Yes!

jeffk wrote:

The mother was always of the understanding its one or the other

No, a holder can use either or both. Usually they'd use the LTI book for anything that's covered by that for their particular condition & medical card for anything else.

jeffk

Cushie Butterfield wrote: »

Yes!


No, a holder can use either or both. Usually they'd use the LTI book for anything that's covered by that for their particular condition & medical card for anything else.

Thanks, that's great news,once they get the medical card sorted they can do this and save a few euro :cool:

Cushie Butterfield

jeffk wrote: »

Thanks, that's great news,once they get the medical card sorted they can do this and save a few euro :cool:

If your mother had been using her medical card for her diabetes meds & paid the €2.50 dispensing charges for those meds she may be entitled to a refund. See here: http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/thousands-battling-longterm-illness-to-get-100-windfall-30182759.html

jeffk

Cushie Butterfield wrote: »

If your mother had been using her medical card for her diabetes meds & paid the €2.50 dispensing charges for those meds she may be entitled to a refund. See here: http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/thousands-battling-longterm-illness-to-get-100-windfall-30182759.html

Any idea where I could get more information to see if effects her?

Cushie Butterfield

jeffk wrote: »

Any idea where I could get more information to see if effects her?

You could contact her local health office who should be able to steer you in the right direction:
http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/1/LHO/lholist.html

You could also check with her pharmacy who may be able to check their records of drugs dispensed & if she paid the dispensing charges.

jeffk

Cushie Butterfield wrote: »

You could contact her local health office who should be able to steer you in the right direction:
http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/1/LHO/lholist.html

You could also check with her pharmacy who may be able to check their records of drugs dispensed & if she paid the dispensing charges.

Local health office is terrible,last time she rang I got the I dont want to deal with people vibe off her.

They both pay €2.50 for each medicine they get,think she said its up too €12 each

wmpdd3

We had our medical card renewal last March, the decision too till August, there was no system in place to pay or refund the charges we incurred between those months, I even sent in all the receipts with the new GP only card details and they said no.