Users of the State-funded Drugs Payment Scheme will have to prove that they were overcharged between 1999 and 2001 before they will get refunds from the Department of Health and Children, writes Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent.
Following an investigation by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr John Purcell, it emerged that 175,000 people were overcharged by up to €18 million for drugs.
The C&AG found that the Drugs Payment Scheme (DPS) was introduced nine months before required regulations under the 1970 Health Act were introduced, resulting in underpayments during that period.
The DPS, whose escalating cost is deeply troubling the Government, replaced the Drug Cost Subsidisation and Drugs Refund Schemes in July 1999.
The Cabinet decided in July 2002 that it would not make refunds, worth approximately €100 to each claimant, though officials backtracked earlier this year after they appeared before the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee.
However, claim forms produced by the Department of Health this week now require the public to be able to produce original receipts, or "appropriate supporting documentation" before they will be considered for refunds.
Individuals and families who paid more than €40.63 per month for drugs between July 1999 and February 2001 will receive €12.70 for each month they were overcharged.
Last night, the Fine Gael deputy health spokesman, Mr Dan Neville, said Minister Martin's efforts to sort out the refund issue have "added insult to injury" since the original fault lay with the Department.
"He should have asked the Department to take full responsibility and sort this mess out. The Department had a duty to contact claimants who were overcharged in order to refund the outstanding sum," he declared.
The Department of Health has all the necessary information on file.
"Instead, Minister Martin expects patients and pharmacists to prove they were overcharged.
"This is placing undue stress on the elderly, the sick, and on pharmacists who took part in the scheme. The Department is obviously putting cost-control measures over the rights of patients," said the Limerick West TD.
"Many people do not have original receipts and pharmacists are being asked by their customers to compile four years old information. This is unreasonable and unjust and must be addressed immediately," he went on.
The closing date for applications is September 30th, though successful claimants are warned that they will owe money to the Revenue Commissioners if they have already claimed tax relief on the higher payments.
The Drug Payment Scheme's predecessors cost €94.84 million in 1998 in their last full year of operation. In contrast, the DPS cost €139.67 million in 2000, €177.76 million in 2001 and €192 million in 2002.
Following Budget Day increases since it was first introduced, individuals and families are now liable only for the first €70 of their monthly drugs bill. In addition, they do not have to pay first and then seek a refund.
There are no qualifying criteria for the DPS, unlike the Drugs Cost Subsidisation Scheme, which required a doctor's certificate for a long-term medical condition and health board approval.