Group questions value of prescription charges

THE GOVERNMENT’s decision to impose prescription charges on medical card holders is unlikely to raise enough revenue to justify the costs of administering the change, the report found. The expert group said the move could lead to some patients not taking medicines they needed.

“In the view of the group, the recently introduced capped co-payment for prescriptions for medical card holders is unlikely to meet the criterion of raising enough revenue to justify the administration costs,” the report said.

“Evidence suggests that any deterrent effects will be to reduce the use of both necessary and less necessary drugs, with possible harmful effects on health.”

The Health (Amendment) (No 2) Bill passed all stages in the Oireachtas recently, and is awaiting the signature of the President.

In September, a 50 cent charge will be imposed on each item prescribed under the medical card scheme. The charge will be capped at €10 per family per month. Some groups will be exempt, including children in Health Service Executive care and people supplied with controlled drugs such as methadone. The report said since the fees were capped it was necessary for the level paid to be recorded and for no further fees to be paid once the threshold had been reached. “This imposes greater administrative costs on pharmacies and patients.”

It added: “In so far as it is intended to reduce use of drugs, a better approach would be through protocols and incentives to doctors to reduce unnecessary prescribing.” The group said it believed administration costs should be kept as low as possible.

“In the case of co-payments, the group recognises the balance that is required between setting user fees at a level low enough not to seriously deter utilisation, but at a high enough level that the revenue justifies the administrative burden of collecting the fees.”