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HSE charge for admission

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2

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    #32
    Allinall
    Registered Users Posts: 6,582 ✭✭✭Allinall


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119244077#Comment_119244077

    Are you suggesting there should be no a&e charges, for anyone?



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    #33
    Wanderer78
    Registered Users Posts: 28,949 ✭✭✭✭Wanderer78


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119244092#Comment_119244092

    maybe!

    ...and maybe implementing and maintaining financial barriers to gain access to our health system is in fact costing us more in the long run, due to the increased bureaucracy and administration costs involved? maybe!



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    #34
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119244134#Comment_119244134

    If there was no charge at all more people would abuse A&E and treat it like a GP service and waiting times would be even worse.

    So yes. I think the charge is a fair one..



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    #35
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    You do realise if you have a medical card the fee doesn’t apply, so you think it’s only people without a medical card that need to be kept away from A&E?



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    #36
    Dodge
    Registered Users Posts: 10,204 ✭✭✭✭Dodge


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119244077#Comment_119244077

    You need to stop arguing strawman here. People who cannot afford any payment plan will qualify for a medical card. Everyone else absolutely can pay €100 over the course of a year

    €100 per A&E visit is actually quite decent value

    If you want to argue for a full NHS style health system, I’m all for it but the argument won’t be based on made up people that simply don’t exist



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    #37
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119246396#Comment_119246396

    Strange that's where your mind went to.

    No, I think A&E should be for emergencies, or as a last resort. Not for matters that can be dealt with in a GPs office.



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    #38
    Mam1996
    Registered Users Posts: 63 ✭✭Mam1996


    Just to confirm if your son was admitted to the hospital the €100 A&E charge is not collected. Even if a private patient attends without a GP letter and they require admission the €100 is not charged. Obviously if he was discharged reclaim it on your out patient expenses as said previously

    Hope he feels better soon.



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    #39
    Sam Russell
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 19,430 Mod ✭✭✭✭Sam Russell


    A&E needs reform as there is no way the very old should be left waiting for 12 hours or more.

    A separate process should exist for the very old, which would triage them quickly, and the very ill, treated immediately, and the trivial ones discharged with the appropriate instructions to get well again. Young children usually have one thing wrong, but the older people have many co-existing conditions, and treating them is complex.

    Trauma is usually obvious - a broken bone, or severe cut that is bleeding.

    What is not so obvious is stroke, dizziness, chest pains, general acute pains. How is that triaged without extensive tests and scans?

    Now add in overcrowding and A&E are in real trouble.

    If it takes a fee of €100 to reduce overcrowding, that might help.

    What does not help, and is appalling, if this is part of the plan, is to deliberately delay the dealing with the less severe cases in the hope they may just give up and go home.



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    #40
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119246480#Comment_119246480

    Thanks, he was sent for a chest xray in the middle of the night, yet wasn't tested for Covid. But, that sounds familiar. My daughter severely damaged her finger on a door jamb 10 years ago, and we got a refund of the €100 a week later (without requesting). She did however require surgery.

    But, I'm even more confused now. Is the €100 charged to those they think are spurious attendees? My son (who is fine now) collapsed on a bus, and an ambulance was called. They took him to Clonmel hospital. He stayed overnight in the hospital, but may not technically have been admitted.



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    #41
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119246469#Comment_119246469

    Don't understand 'Strange that's where your mind went to'. To your point, only those that don't have a medical card could possibly be discouraged from attending A&E because of a cost. Should we perhaps also arbitrarily charge red headed people to likewise cut down on admissions - if that's the desired purpose of the €100 charge.



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    #42
    macvin
    Registered Users Posts: 716 ✭✭✭macvin


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119243520#Comment_119243520

    Your net cost is €144 as you can claim 20% tax relief on the cost.

    So many people throw away this very simple tax relief. All you need is a box for any and every medical related expense from prescriptions under the new lower €80/month cost to GP visits, consultants, xrays etc etc


    Every January add them all up, put the details in Revenue's online system and you have 20% back within a couple of weeks

    And it can add up over the year too!


    https://www.revenue.ie/en/personal-tax-credits-reliefs-and-exemptions/health-and-age/health-expenses/what-are-qualifying-expenses.aspx



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    #43
    macvin
    Registered Users Posts: 716 ✭✭✭macvin


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119244014#Comment_119244014
    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119244077#Comment_119244077
    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119243987#Comment_119243987

    what if what if what if.


    In a GENUINE case where the person is earning too much to have a medical card and has difficulty paying, the HSE can give a waiver to the charges.


    Happy now?



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    #44
    c.p.w.g.w
    Registered Users Posts: 4,994 ✭✭✭c.p.w.g.w


    I've never paid my A&E charges...4 times in total...debt collector letters ignored...

    If I need to go to A&E because I was bottled, fell(sober), had chest pains(X2)... Shouldn't the services be there for me...

    At the time I work a low paid job, not entitled to a medical card yet paid taxes...

    Feck em, my taxes should be good for emergency health at the very least



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    #45
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119247781#Comment_119247781

    It's €100 so the trouble of ACTUALLY chasing it is too small. A debt collector will pay buttons for it, and likely not expend much effort to claim back. However, the debt collection letters would be sent to my son, and he'd absolutely freak out over it, so not near worth it to go down that route.



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    #46
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119247642#Comment_119247642

    What is strange is your mind immediately went to assuming the charge was "only" about targeting non-medical card holders and preventing them from attending A&E.

    That's a ridiculous assumption to jump too.

    But you know what? don't worry your head about it. Many people just ignore the charge anyway and never pay it, so it's obviously not putting anyone off going to A&E.

    https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/hse-hospitals-call-in-debt-collectors-after-40m-owed-by-patients-last-year-41575927.html


    Post edited by [Deleted User] on


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    #47
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119247871#Comment_119247871

    I've paid the charge.

    The measure you propose only affects certain people - you seem happy with that. I called you out on it and you got pissy. Try not to worry about it, nobody is perfect.



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    #48
    spuddy
    Registered Users Posts: 787 ✭✭✭spuddy


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119246054#Comment_119246054

    It's dysfunctional. We're actively trying to stop people seeking medical attention. Make primary care free/very low cost, you then don't need to apply high charges on A&E.



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    #49
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119248127#Comment_119248127

    I got pissy? Have your read your own responses to this thread?

    I didn't "propose" anything. The A&E charge, and who is liable to pay it, has been in place for at least 20 years. In fact, it was in 2005 that the then Minister for Health Mary Harney proposed the charge be increased from €60 to €100 and why:

    "the increased charge would facilitate more appropriate attendances at A&E units and relieve overcrowding there. It was believed if the fee was set sufficiently high patients would use their GP, which in most cases would be cheaper, as a first port of call instead."

    Obviously the measure failed, but the way you're going on, you'd swear I was personally responsible for setting the criteria for the A&E charge.

    If you have an issue with how the charge is applied and why, take it up with the current Minister for Health, instead of getting pissy with me when I simply attempted to explain the reasoning behind it to you.

    stephen.donnelly@oireachtas.ie



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    #50
    Spanish Eyes
    Registered Users Posts: 15,912 ✭✭✭✭Spanish Eyes


    Bear in mind that rocking up to a private A+E is not possible much anymore. You need to phone for an appointment and are triaged, or told to go to your GP. So therefore critical emergencies are straight to public hospital A+E. Matter of fact some private hospitals have to transfer suddenly ill patients to public A+E if they have a stroke or cardiac issue, that is where the private hospital is not a general hospital and is mainly elective.

    I got very ill early 2021 during the height of Covid. We were told by Holohan and co. not to go near the A+E in the main hospitals. Struggled to GP, he agreed that public a+e was a dangerous place infection and crowding wise. He rang around the private A+Es and only one out of four near me would take me in based on symptoms. It was a bit chaotic there too, but I was seen very quickly and admitted within 2 hours. I don't know how long it would have taken in the main A+E but I have no doubt I would have been triaged and looked after just as well.

    All I know of the public charge is that if you don't have a medical card or a GP referral you will be charged unless admitted.



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    #51
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119248204#Comment_119248204

    You. 'If there was no charge at all more people would abuse A&E and treat it like a GP service and waiting times would be even worse.

    So yes. I think the charge is a fair one..'

    Me. 'You do realise if you have a medical card the fee doesn’t apply, so you think it’s only people without a medical card that need to be kept away from A&E?' Pointing out the outworkings of what you are happy with.

    Also you. 'Strange that's where your mind went to.'

    THAT was a pissy response. You still wont accept your 'fair charge' to limit abuse of the HSE (you seem to think pointing this fact out is strange - which I think is strange) ONLY impacts certain people, and you are happy with that.

    I never suggested or implied you were responsible for the charge, but that you were happy for it to apply to some people to reduce abuse of the HSE. Maybe you didn't realise this what you think is 'fair' actually meant.



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    #52
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Maybe you didn't realise this what you meant 'fair' actually meant.

    I don't understand that sentence.... but I gather you're now defining what I meant, for me ????

    Just stop. You got your answer. You just didn't like it.

    Take it or leave it - at this point I really dgaf.



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    #53
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119248158#Comment_119248158

    The charge wasn't meant to prevent people from actively seeking medical attention.

    The charge was meant to encourage people to seek medical attention from their GP first, before attending overcrowed Accident & Emergencies with non emergencies.

    I don't think that point can be made any clearer.

    Like I said, if anyone objects to the charge or how its applied - stephen.donnelly@oireachtas.ie



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    #54
    Spanish Eyes
    Registered Users Posts: 15,912 ✭✭✭✭Spanish Eyes


    Never get sick on a weekend.



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    #55
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119248291#Comment_119248291

    I'll accept that.



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    #56
    Western Pomise
    Registered Users Posts: 1,656 ✭✭✭Western Pomise


    Wondering how long do you have to claim back on A+E visits?……..have been there twice in last 12 months,once with a possible broken toe that needed an x-ray and once with a cut on my hand from a kitchen knife accident.

    Have VHI so €200 cost…..how long do you have to claim it back?

    If I couldn’t find receipt from last years visit I presume a call to the Hospital should mean they could re-issue a receipt for same.



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    #57
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119248412#Comment_119248412

    You can claim back from Revenue over the last 4 years. Re from VHI... I've that very query into the company's VHI liaison. I've some family GP visits to claim. If/When I hear back from the VHI I'll update here (assuming nobody else updates in the mean time).



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    #58
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119248309#Comment_119248309

    There are GP Out of Hours services for weekends.



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    #59
    Spanish Eyes
    Registered Users Posts: 15,912 ✭✭✭✭Spanish Eyes


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119248508#Comment_119248508

    Turn on your tongue in cheek meter!

    My mother waited 9 hours for a call out on a Sunday from DubDoc. That was a few years ago, I don't know if that has improved. Also, I think there is something about you having to be registered with a GP who is a member of the out of hours group to be seen, but don't quote me on that.

    Anyway, weekends are difficult times to get sick. I know.....



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    #60
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119249283#Comment_119249283

    9 hours at home is bad, but better then 13 hours in A&E. The most I've ever waited for a TLC Doc callback is 2 hours.

    I once spent a horrific 39 hours straight in an A&E department with my elderly mother while waiting for a bed so she could be admitted (pneumonia) and got shouted at by staff for leaving her side to go to the toilet or get something from the vending machine because they couldn't supervise her (she had dementia and wandered if I left).

    I'd have to have my leg hanging off before I'd go to an A&E.



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    #61
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    I had this experience when admitted by ambulance to St Vincent’s Hospital for a strangulated hernia with small bowel obstruction. I was extremely ill on admission and afforded a secluded room on my own owing to nature of vomiting. Subsequently underwent major abdominal surgery.

    One of the first people to appear in my A&E room was an Admin person looking for VHI details, but I was too unwell to cooperate and get my details. The lure of a transfer to the private hospital was offered, and I really cared less at that moment. Subsequent to my surgery I ended up for the rest of my stay in the High Dependency Unit.

    The day before my discharge the Admin returned again, having tried a second time during my stay but I was really too unwell to engage with her, and said I was being transferred to the Private Hospital to recuperate, which was a blatant untruth, and proffered me a pen to sign a paper. I was in discomfort, and quite weak, and thought it would be good to get a few days proper feeding & physio before returning to my apartment where I live alone. I signed, then was turned out next morning and that was it. They really do put the pressure on.



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