News
How Prescription Charges for Medical Cardholders Affect Patients
Check out the recently published rté brainstorm article by gary o’brien, school of pharmacy on the link https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2019/1203/1096674-how-prescription-charges-for-medical-cardholders-affect-patients/
……………………..Both pharmacy and GP representative bodies who have first-hand experience with the medical card prescription charge need to be heavily involved in this policy as it's a healthcare policy, not a revenue-generating exercise. In fact, pharmacists and GPs now recommend medical patients who have an eligible long-term illness, as classified by the Health Service Executive, to switch from the medical card scheme to the non-means tested long-term illness scheme to avoid paying the medical card prescription charge. This nullifies the whole concept of having a charge associated with the medical card scheme. It sparks discussion on the complexity of the whole medicine reimbursement system in Ireland where reform is urgently required……………………………….