Medical card review

Ubbquittious · 26-01-2021 8:13pm #1

I know a few people over 70 now who got a letter saying their medical card is up for review, then they have to fill in a load of forms and prove they havn't suddenly tapped into a nice juicy source of income.

Surely the idea behind this scam is that a load of over 70's will forget or won't be able to do the paperwork and their cards will be taken off them. Things must be very tight if they're trying to screw over 70's out of their medical cards in these corona infested times. Anyone know if there's been an uptick in the practice or were they doing it all along?

muffler · 26-01-2021 8:17pm

Ubbquittious wrote: »

I know a few people over 70 now who got a letter saying their medical card is up for review, then they have to fill in a load of forms and prove they havn't suddenly tapped into a nice juicy source of income.

Surely the idea behind this scam is that a load of over 70's will forget or won't be able to do the paperwork and their cards will be taken off them. Things must be very tight if they're trying to screw over 70's out of their medical cards in these corona infested times. Anyone know if there's been an uptick in the practice or were they doing it all along?

What scam? Thats a serious accusation.

Ubbquittious · 26-01-2021 8:24pm

muffler wrote: »

What scam? Thats a serious accusation.

Well a certain % won't fill in the form, leaving more money for the government to spend on Denis O'Brien, bondholders and other fat business men who drive a black Mercedes instead of looking after those pesky elderly citizens

Kinda like the auld 'Mail in Rebate' that used to be popular in the States

Calahonda52 · 26-01-2021 8:30pm

Ubbquittious wrote: »

I know a few people over 70 now who got a letter saying their medical card is up for review, then they have to fill in a load of forms and prove they havn't suddenly tapped into a nice juicy source of income.

Surely the idea behind this scam is that a load of over 70's will forget or won't be able to do the paperwork and their cards will be taken off them. Things must be very tight if they're trying to screw over 70's out of their medical cards in these corona infested times. Anyone know if there's been an uptick in the practice or were they doing it all along?

Breathtakingly MAGA-esque

muffler · 26-01-2021 8:48pm

Ubbquittious wrote: »

Well a certain % won't fill in the form, leaving more money for the government to spend on Denis O'Brien, bondholders and other fat business men who drive a black Mercedes instead of looking after those pesky elderly citizens

Kinda like the auld 'Mail in Rebate' that used to be popular in the States

Those comments dont even merit a response.

So long and good luck with getting other responses.

Qwertyminger · 26-01-2021 8:51pm

Horrible business targeting vulnerable elderly people. Is it indiscriminate?

Typical.

Dempo1 · 31-01-2021 1:27pm

I understood medical card reviews do happen but quite surprised to hear over 70"s being contacted, particularly in the current climate.

I'm in my mid 50"s and have a long term Thyroid Disease, thankfully I've a full medical card, particularly for monthly meds. My card this year and last year was just issued with no review. Perhaps its because of my illness, not sure.

31-01-2021 1:31pm

Dempo1 wrote: »

I understood medical card reviews do happen but quite surprised to hear over 70"s being contacted, particularly in the current climate.

I'm in my mid 50"s and have a long term Thyroid Disease, thankfully I've a full medical card, particularly for monthly meds. My card this year and last year was just issued with no review. Perhaps its because of my illness, not sure.

I'm holding onto my card since 2018, I was due to hold it for a year or two longer due to previous financial circumstances.

If a review came, I would lose the card as I'm beyond whatever extra time you get to retain it.

A few months ago I got an extension with a new card without a review.

So it's likely with C19 they just reissued all the cards.

Dempo1 · 31-01-2021 1:35pm

gilberto_eire wrote: »

I'm holding onto my card since 2018, I was due to hold it for a year or two longer due to previous financial circumstances.

If a review came, I would lose the card as I'm beyond whatever extra time you get to retain it.

A few months ago I got an extension with a new card without a review.

So it's likely with C19 they just reissued all the cards.

I'm just curious with the OP"s statement re over 70"s being contacted for reviews and particularly given C19, just seems very odd.

Ubbquittious · 31-01-2021 11:20pm

Dempo1 wrote: »

I understood medical card reviews do happen but quite surprised to hear over 70"s being contacted, particularly in the current climate.

I'm in my mid 50"s and have a long term Thyroid Disease, thankfully I've a full medical card, particularly for monthly meds. My card this year and last year was just issued with no review. Perhaps its because of my illness, not sure.

19th of this month is the date on one of the letters, but I must admit it's the only time I've heard of it happening during the covid time

dartboardio · 01-02-2021 4:06am

Worked in the medical card unit for 2 years, left because HSE is a ****show more or less!

I do think people should be reviewed every few years yes, however I don’t think it’s fair that they just don’t care and don’t put a facility in place to at least let long term card holders retain their cards. I’ve seen them send reviews out to people who have terminal illness, or the worst ones were when the cards would take so long to be processed that people died in the meantime and you’d have the awkward conversation on the phone with their family member.

I know we would love to think there’s a person behind each review getting sent out but the reality is a computer doesn’t recognise the fact that uncle John who’s 80 can’t read nor write and has the same medical condition the last 20 years (ridiculous I know). I left that job due to it being one big walking contradiction. The whole medical card system should be completely revamped anyway, the way it’s done/assessed is not very fair in terms of wage calculation.

Medical card review

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