Health Payments & Charges

Medical Cards and GP visit cards: From July 1st 2011, all new Medical Card applications and reviews will be dealt with by the Primary Care reimbursement service(PCRS) central office. This is a changeover in the HSE back office functions, inline with the Croke Park Agreement, and is designrd to ensure a more streamlined resposive and faster system for processing medical cards. Please see www.medicalcard.ie to apply online and for further details.

Drug Payment Scheme: Under the Drugs Payment Scheme you have to pay a maximum of €120 a month for approved prescribed prescription costs on medicines and certain appliances for use by yourself and your family in that month. Application forms for this scheme are available from pharmacies and your local health office.

The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF): Public patients who have seen a consultant and have been waiting 3 months for a procedures in a public hospital can apply to the National Treatment Purchase Fund. The NTPF will arrange for patients on public hospital waiting lists to be treated in private hospitals here, in the UK and some other countries. The maximum waiting list once you have contacted the NTPF is 3 months. Further information can be found at http://www.ntpf.ie/

Hospital Charges: If you go to the out-patients or A&E of a public hospital without being referred there by your GP you may be charged €100 if you do not have a medical card Public in-patient charges are €75 per day up to a maximum of €750 every year unless you have a medical card. Private patients can be charged as much as €984.60 per night. Further information on hospital charges is available at http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/health/hospital-services/hospital_charges