HEALTH:MEDICAL CARD holders will have to pay prescription charges for the first time following yesterday's Budget. They will pay 50 cent for each item they are prescribed and the change will come into effect from April 1st next year.
The charge will be capped at €10 per family per month, and the changes are expected to raise €15 million in 2010 and €25 million in a full year.
The monthly threshold for the drugs payment scheme is being increased from €100 to €120 from January 1st.
There will also be an increase in the health insurance levy to reflect the increased cost of claims by older people, but the amount of the increase has yet to be worked out.
In addition to pay cuts for healthcare staff ranging from 5 to 15 per cent, there is to be a €45 million reduction in fees paid to health professionals such as GPs and dentists. Minister for Health Mary Harney said these would be introduced following consultation with the professions and would come on top of reductions in professional fees introduced earlier this year. Pharmacists, however, will be excluded in 2010.
Ms Harney said it would be unusual if the reduction in professional fees was not in line with the reductions in salaries for public sector staff.
The charge for attending AE will remain the same, as will the statutory hospital charges for day, inpatient and long-stay services. The charge for private beds in public hospitals is also unchanged.
The overall health budget next year will be €15.3 billion, comprising €14.8 billion for current spending and €484 million for capital projects.
Ms Harney said the cut in current spending for 2010 over what might have been expected in normal economic circumstances was more than €1 billion and on the capital side it was €37 million.
She said most of the shortfall would be made up by cuts in pay to health sector staff and cuts in professional fees. This would save some €659 million, she said.
A further €400 million in cuts would be made up by cutting the amount paid for drugs to pharmaceutical companies by €141 million, by capping the amount spent on the medical card dental treatment scheme at 2008 levels, by HSE and Department of Health economies of nearly €110 million, and by prescription charges and improving private income collection by public hospitals.
Ms Harney said without pay cuts in the health sector there would have been very severe cuts in hospital and community services, which would have been detrimental to patients.
Despite the cuts, she said, there would be some developments. There will be an additional €20 million for cancer control, including funding to do groundwork for the roll-out of a national bowel cancer screening programme. There will also be an additional €97 million for the Fair Deal scheme, an additional €10 million for home-care packages, and an extra €230 million for demand-led schemes such as additional medical cards.
In addition, there will be €15 million to start the implementation of the Ryan report. The money will allow additional social workers to be recruited.
Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews also announced that €3 million has been allocated for a possible referendum on children’s rights next year.
Following the Budget there will be no increase in the cost of cigarettes and alcohol prices are to drop. There will be a 12 cent reduction in excise duty on a pint of beer or cider, 14 cent on a half-glass of spirits and a 60 cent reduction on a bottle of wine.