Medical Card - are they just making it up as they go along?

TrinityM

We applied for a medical card middle of March sometime. We had just returned from 4 years overseas and my husband was on jobseekers allowance at the time (though since got a job). We were living with his mum at the time and had no rent/mortgage etc. About a month after we put in the application they sent a letter stating we had not included any outgoing expenses with our application. Fair enough - although at the time we clearly had stated we had no outgoing expenses. By the time this letter arrived we were in a rental house and had a car and husband had a job and so I sent in all the things they requested (copy of lease showing our monthly rent, distance from home to work for him, payslip, as well as medical expenses). Didn't hear anything back for a few weeks and in the meantime he is put on another medication which is costing €144 a month, so I sent in a copy of that receipt as well. Then the status changed from in progress to "need more information" so I inquired by email what else was needed.

They came back with

I have checked the National Database and can see our processing team still require a copy of your log book for travel to work expenses.

We were originally never asked for a log book, only to write down the distance from home to work and they would work out the miles from there (they have our home address, and they have a payslip from the company which would confirm the work location). Anyhow so I figured out the logbook stuff and sent them a copy of that.

Then they come back with:

Please be aware that we also require a copy of your vehicle registration certificate in order to complete your application.

Okay - why didn't they say all that in the first place?

So I take a picture of the reg certificate and email them the JPG file.

Then they come back with:

The processing team have advised that we cannot accept photograph's of documents. You will need to scan these documents and attach them as a PDF/JPG file. Alternatively, you can forward copies of these documents by post.

WTH? It just seems like they are just making stuff up as they go along to make you so frustrated as to give up.

Anyone else had this experience?

If you have been 4 years overseas (and not contributing to the tax take in this country) are you allowed to claim benefits straight off?

TrinityM

We established habitual residence to satisfy jobseekers allowance requirement, so why would medical card be any different? And besides that they never questioned habitual residence for medical card purposes. My husband was born and raised in Ireland and has contributed his fair share of taxes over the years (he is 50 now and has been in the workforce since 18).

Polo_Mint

TrinityM wrote: »

We established habitual residence to satisfy jobseekers allowance requirement, so why would medical card be any different? And besides that they never questioned habitual residence for medical card purposes. My husband was born and raised in Ireland and has contributed his fair share of taxes over the years (he is 50 now and has been in the workforce since 18).

Does he still Qualify for a Medical Card now that he has a job?

TrinityM

I think with our expenses and his medical expenses we will likely qualify for a GP visit card, going by my calculations at least.

MouseTail

Have you applied for the drugs payment scheme in the interim?

wmpdd3

Yes, I couldn't count the amount of additional documents they asked for.

In all , I sent in over 60 sheets of paper between creche receipts, insurance disks etc.

They accepted documents scanned in on my phone with the camscan app.

TrinityM

MouseTail wrote: »

Have you applied for the drugs payment scheme in the interim?

Yes, thankfully got that in the meantime.

TrinityM

wmpdd3 wrote: »

Yes, I couldn't count the amount of additional documents they asked for.

In all , I sent in over 60 sheets of paper between creche receipts, insurance disks etc.

They accepted documents scanned in on my phone with the camscan app.

Yeah. I've no problem giving them all the documents they need. I just wish they would tell you what those documents are right from the start, instead of dragging the process out for months because you didn't send them a document they never actually told you they needed, if you know what I mean.

Balagan

Parts 3 and 4 of the Medical Card application form are pretty clear on what documentation has to be submitted and that they must be photocopies only.
http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/1/schemes/mc/forms/medicalcardformmay15.pdf

TrinityM

Okay, maybe it's just because we had none of those expenses when we first applied for it, so I didn't take notice of it at the time. And I had nothing to refer to afterwards since we had already handed in the form. Thanks for the link Balagan.

haveringchick

TrinityM wrote: »

Yeah. I've no problem giving them all the documents they need. I just wish they would tell you what those documents are right from the start, instead of dragging the process out for months because you didn't send them a document they never actually told you they needed, if you know what I mean.

The application form really couldn't be any clearer about the supporting evidence required.