Rent Supplement and Medical Card Eligibility?

tradhead

Hi everyone,

Apologies if this is really obvious but I'm hoping someone could give me a straight answer!

I just got let go from my job, and received confirmation today that I'll be receiving €144 on JBS. I've been renting for six months in Dublin 3 with two other girls, and paying €430 a month, plus bills.

I'm hopeful that I'll find another job within a month (hopefully!!) but in the meantime would I be eligible for rent allowance? I think the maximum contribution if I was eligible would be €350- so do I pay €30 a week on top of that to bring it up to €430? Or is it €350 including my own contributions?

Also, I wasn't working for a few months last year, and received a medical card just before I found a new job. Is there a way to "reactivate" it now that I'm unemployed again, or do I need to fill out some forms?

Any help at all would be much appreciated!

Cushie Butterfield

Have a look here: https://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Maximum-Rent-Limits-by-County.aspx at Dublin - other local authorities. The maximum rent allowed for a single person in shared accomodation is €350. Unfortunately this means that if your rent is more than €350 that you wouldn't be eligible to claim rent supplement.

For Dublin 3 rent supplement is administered by
North Side Rents Unit
PO Box 12475
Dublin 1
Ph: 01 8172600
Available from 9:00 to 13:00 & 14:15 to 17:00
Email: Swaloc800@welfare.ie

You should try to contact them for further info & clarification, & you could also speak to your local DSP Representative (CWO) for advice or perhaps the possibility of applying for an exceptional needs payment:

77 Upper Gardiner Street
Dublin 1
Ph: 01 8585100
Clinic times:
Monday - Thursday: 10:00 – 12:30,
14:15 – 15:30 Friday: 10:00 – 12:30

As regards a medical card application you'll need to submit a new one. There should be a space on the application form for you to put in the number of your old expired one if you still have it.

Best of luck & hopefully this will just be a very short & temporary setback.

tradhead

Cushie Butterfield wrote: »

Have a look here: https://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Maximum-Rent-Limits-by-County.aspx at Dublin - other local authorities. The maximum rent allowed for a single person in shared accomodation is €350. Unfortunately this means that if your rent is more than €350 that you wouldn't be eligible to claim rent supplement.

For Dublin 3 rent supplement is administered by
North Side Rents Unit
PO Box 12475
Dublin 1
Ph: 01 8172600
Available from 9:00 to 13:00 & 14:15 to 17:00
Email: Swaloc800@welfare.ie

You should try to contact them for further info & clarification, & you could also speak to your local DSP Representative (CWO) for advice or perhaps the possibility of applying for an exceptional needs payment:

77 Upper Gardiner Street
Dublin 1
Ph: 01 8585100
Clinic times:
Monday - Thursday: 10:00 – 12:30,
14:15 – 15:30 Friday: 10:00 – 12:30

As regards a medical card application you'll need to submit a new one. There should be a space on the application form for you to put in the number of your old expired one if you still have it.

Best of luck & hopefully this will just be a very short & temporary setback.

Thank you for the reply, and apologies for not updating sooner!

Just in case anybody is in the same situation, I actually discovered that there is no way to renew the card, as it's simply not necessary. I actually could have been using it all this time!

Kindof annoyed with myself as I had shingles a month or so ago after I became unemployed which resulted in lots of doctor and hospital visits, which I paid for like an eejit! I rang the number on the medical card website, which is where I got clarification.

Just thought it might be of use to someone else! :-)

Cushie Butterfield

tradhead wrote: »

Thank you for the reply, and apologies for not updating sooner!

Just in case anybody is in the same situation, I actually discovered that there is no way to renew the card, as it's simply not necessary. I actually could have been using it all this time!

Kindof annoyed with myself as I had shingles a month or so ago after I became unemployed which resulted in lots of doctor and hospital visits, which I paid for like an eejit! I rang the number on the medical card website, which is where I got clarification.

Just thought it might be of use to someone else! :-)

You didn't say that your medical card was still in date, but either way if it was your GP should have known that you were on his GMS list & given you a GMS prescription for your shingles medication.

After you resumed work the last time you were meant to have informed the HSE of your change in circumstances. They would then have reassessed you for medical card eligibility, & depending on your income from employment you would have either retained it, been issued with a GP Visit Card or not qualified for either. You obviously didn't do this, but considering that you didn't actually use the medical card when you were working that didn't become an issue.

Seeing as you paid for medication when unemployed the second time & had a medical card (you would have got one again anyway even if you'd lost it when you returned to work) you could look into applying for a refund from the HSE. It's an unusual situation so I don't really know what section in the HSE you should contact. There is a drugs refunds section that deals with refunds for Drugs Payment Scheme cardholders that have overpaid & for medical card holders that have paid over €25 in any month for prescription filling charges (phone 1890 252 919) but you could start with ringing their 1800 520 520 number, explain the situation & they could advise you further on whether or not you can claim the amount back.

If you paid for public hospital visits as a public patient (or paid the statutory inpatient or outpatient change element of a hospital bill as a private patient), you can apply to the hospital billing dept for a refund of those charges, by writing to the patient billing dept & enclosing receipts for the bills you have paid (you may need to contact them in advance to get duplicate receipts sent out to you), along with a photocopy of your medical card & request a refund due to the fact that you had a medical card at time of treatment & weren't liable for the charges.

You should also ask your GP for a refund of any amounts you paid to him/her as you should have been seen as a GMS patient. If you are on his/her GMS list then they are paid by the HSE for having you on their list whether you visit them or not.