Remember not that long ago when the country was riddled with cash? Remember the HSE had a surplus of cash a year or so ago?
Well our “leaders” apparently didn’t know what they were doing. Surprise, surprise. They had all that money and they didn’t budget for a rainy day. Their recklessness ran the country into deficit and they never made any contingency plans or had anything tucked away, just in case.
It’s ok though. Because the elderly, the ones who have paid tax all their lives already, will come to the noble Government’s rescue.
The elderly with their chronic illnesses, their failing health, their polypharmacy have kindly offered to step up and shoulder the country’s financial burden even though it could ruin their health and shorten their lives.
No, actually they haven’t. They’re being forced to.
“Of the 140,000 people who got a card automatically when they turned 70, only about 15,000 will retain it, while 35,000 will get a GP card and another 70,000 will get a health support payment.”
The above quote is taken from the RTE news website (
read full article here )
So 125,000 elderly people who got a medical card are going to have it taken away? Many of these people were told this entitlement was for life. They would have cancelled their health insurance, if they had it, many of them, as they needed every euro they had and would have seen no need for insurance now that they were told by the Government they had paid taxes to all their lives that they would be looked after in their old age.
Assuming they could still afford health insurance, in most cases not bloody likely, but assuming some nice son or daughter who is earning paid it for them or something, the waiting period for pre-existing conditions is FIVE EFFING YEARS! That’s a long time when you’re elderly and suffering from chronic illness. Maybe terminally long.
Oh GEE though, 35,000 get a GP only card. Well that’s something.
Actually that is NOTHING. Because the Drugs Payment Scheme threshold was increased so dramatically, from 89 euro to about double that, hence MORE than offsetting any saving these elderly folks might possibly make by not having to pay their GP. The Government WILL claw it back from them. One way or another.
70,000 get a “health support payment”.
Umm, is that that 400 euro thingy per year they were talking about? Wow. You could almost get two months worth of your prescription meds with that now that the Drug Payment Scheme threshold is increased. And we could test out the placebo effect hypothesis for the other ten months of the year. Who needs warfarin? Clots, shmots. Or proton pump inhibitors? (quite costly) That Barrett’s oesophagus is all in your mind, dear.
Or you could attend the A&E four times, now that they’ve increased the cost of that. You won’t be able to pay for whatever they prescribe you, but you can go and hang out on a trolley for a day or two. Fun and games.
“Dr McDaid called on his own profession to forego the extra payments they receive for treating the over-70s for a period of three years as a gesture to help the national finances.”
Well the Government would bloody LOVE that, wouldn’t they? They’d never again have to issue another medical card to an over 70 as the status quo would be that they are forever treated at the doctor’s expense. They’d still have to pay for their prescriptions, of course, but maybe the Government could convince pharmacists to dispense gratis as well and then it’d all be fine.
Another problem is, this is kinda leaving it at the discretion of the treating physician. Unless a national agreement to treat for free is rolled out and signed by all, this won't wash everywhere. So some over 70's will still get charged.
A noble gesture, perhaps, but as most of your business as a GP comes from this demographic, and the money you make from your business goes into making your business better, paying for equipment, services, practice nurses, laboratory services, anyone can see how sustainable this is going to be. But I guess you can cut laboratory services. No more paying for the lab to process INRs, and no more paying for the transport to the lab. Warfarin monitoring is something you can’t offer anymore. The practice nurse can go to part time, and women can wait longer for smears. Hey what’s another couple of weeks-they already aren’t reported on for months, right?
If you make people who are running their own businesses provide services for free, the quality and availability of said services will necessarily decrease. Does anyone in the Government know much at all about finance or business anymore? I mean, I know the previous Taoiseach didn’t have a bank account when he was the MINISTER FOR FINANCE, but I didn’t think that was the status quo, I sorta assumed that was a one off.
Mind you, who would be able to charge an elderly person that you knew couldn’t pay?
So I’ve got a better solution.
Treat‘em all. Don’t charge them. Keep careful records. Every three months, every GP and practice in the country send the bill to the Minister for Health, the HSE, the Tanaiste, or whoever. After they default on the payments for a while, involve lawyers. Then protests. Then whatever else it takes. I don't know. Somebody do bloody SOMETHING, though.
As a TEMPORARY measure, could we not have all employed persons between say, 30-55 years of age making above a certain amount have health insurance compulsorily deducted from their wages for these three years instead? They then have to use the private hospitals, or their insurance pays the public ones, and they don’t cost the public health service anything in the event of illness. To be honest, I don’t even think that’s such a bad idea on a not so temporary basis. I’ve always paid for my healthcare. Because I’m able to. When I can’t anymore, that’s when I expect my taxes to kick in. But right now, when it’s not a struggle, why should I use resources people who can’t afford insurance are waiting for? Employers too, benefit as they get tax breaks for providing employee health insurance. In addition, it’s an extra incentive to apply for jobs that provide it, and also to stay employed. There are other ways too, I’m sure, that costs could be redistributed without targeting the weakest members of our society.
Dr. McDaid’s heart is in the right place. But he assumes everyone elses heart is too. And he’s wrong. So I call on my own profession not to take this lying down. Fight for your patients. The older, and frailer, and less well off they are, the louder your voice should be. Costs will have to be cut in other areas. Maybe we could hold off building the private hospitals for a while and redirect that money into making sure the elderly can access any doctors or hospitals at all? I don’t know, as I have no experience in managing money of that scale.
But I know this is wrong.
P.S. I applaud all the TDs who resigned or who are protesting this despite the pressure on you not to criticise Budgetary decisions. GOOD ON YOU. You guys will have my vote in future if you run for anything.
Well our “leaders” apparently didn’t know what they were doing. Surprise, surprise. They had all that money and they didn’t budget for a rainy day. Their recklessness ran the country into deficit and they never made any contingency plans or had anything tucked away, just in case.
It’s ok though. Because the elderly, the ones who have paid tax all their lives already, will come to the noble Government’s rescue.
The elderly with their chronic illnesses, their failing health, their polypharmacy have kindly offered to step up and shoulder the country’s financial burden even though it could ruin their health and shorten their lives.
No, actually they haven’t. They’re being forced to.
“Of the 140,000 people who got a card automatically when they turned 70, only about 15,000 will retain it, while 35,000 will get a GP card and another 70,000 will get a health support payment.”
The above quote is taken from the RTE news website ( read full article here )
So 125,000 elderly people who got a medical card are going to have it taken away? Many of these people were told this entitlement was for life. They would have cancelled their health insurance, if they had it, many of them, as they needed every euro they had and would have seen no need for insurance now that they were told by the Government they had paid taxes to all their lives that they would be looked after in their old age.
Assuming they could still afford health insurance, in most cases not bloody likely, but assuming some nice son or daughter who is earning paid it for them or something, the waiting period for pre-existing conditions is FIVE EFFING YEARS! That’s a long time when you’re elderly and suffering from chronic illness. Maybe terminally long.
Oh GEE though, 35,000 get a GP only card. Well that’s something.
Actually that is NOTHING. Because the Drugs Payment Scheme threshold was increased so dramatically, from 89 euro to about double that, hence MORE than offsetting any saving these elderly folks might possibly make by not having to pay their GP. The Government WILL claw it back from them. One way or another.
70,000 get a “health support payment”.
Umm, is that that 400 euro thingy per year they were talking about? Wow. You could almost get two months worth of your prescription meds with that now that the Drug Payment Scheme threshold is increased. And we could test out the placebo effect hypothesis for the other ten months of the year. Who needs warfarin? Clots, shmots. Or proton pump inhibitors? (quite costly) That Barrett’s oesophagus is all in your mind, dear.
Or you could attend the A&E four times, now that they’ve increased the cost of that. You won’t be able to pay for whatever they prescribe you, but you can go and hang out on a trolley for a day or two. Fun and games.
“Dr McDaid called on his own profession to forego the extra payments they receive for treating the over-70s for a period of three years as a gesture to help the national finances.”
Well the Government would bloody LOVE that, wouldn’t they? They’d never again have to issue another medical card to an over 70 as the status quo would be that they are forever treated at the doctor’s expense. They’d still have to pay for their prescriptions, of course, but maybe the Government could convince pharmacists to dispense gratis as well and then it’d all be fine.
Another problem is, this is kinda leaving it at the discretion of the treating physician. Unless a national agreement to treat for free is rolled out and signed by all, this won't wash everywhere. So some over 70's will still get charged.
A noble gesture, perhaps, but as most of your business as a GP comes from this demographic, and the money you make from your business goes into making your business better, paying for equipment, services, practice nurses, laboratory services, anyone can see how sustainable this is going to be. But I guess you can cut laboratory services. No more paying for the lab to process INRs, and no more paying for the transport to the lab. Warfarin monitoring is something you can’t offer anymore. The practice nurse can go to part time, and women can wait longer for smears. Hey what’s another couple of weeks-they already aren’t reported on for months, right?
If you make people who are running their own businesses provide services for free, the quality and availability of said services will necessarily decrease. Does anyone in the Government know much at all about finance or business anymore? I mean, I know the previous Taoiseach didn’t have a bank account when he was the MINISTER FOR FINANCE, but I didn’t think that was the status quo, I sorta assumed that was a one off.
Mind you, who would be able to charge an elderly person that you knew couldn’t pay?
So I’ve got a better solution.
Treat‘em all. Don’t charge them. Keep careful records. Every three months, every GP and practice in the country send the bill to the Minister for Health, the HSE, the Tanaiste, or whoever. After they default on the payments for a while, involve lawyers. Then protests. Then whatever else it takes. I don't know. Somebody do bloody SOMETHING, though.
As a TEMPORARY measure, could we not have all employed persons between say, 30-55 years of age making above a certain amount have health insurance compulsorily deducted from their wages for these three years instead? They then have to use the private hospitals, or their insurance pays the public ones, and they don’t cost the public health service anything in the event of illness. To be honest, I don’t even think that’s such a bad idea on a not so temporary basis. I’ve always paid for my healthcare. Because I’m able to. When I can’t anymore, that’s when I expect my taxes to kick in. But right now, when it’s not a struggle, why should I use resources people who can’t afford insurance are waiting for? Employers too, benefit as they get tax breaks for providing employee health insurance. In addition, it’s an extra incentive to apply for jobs that provide it, and also to stay employed. There are other ways too, I’m sure, that costs could be redistributed without targeting the weakest members of our society.
Dr. McDaid’s heart is in the right place. But he assumes everyone elses heart is too. And he’s wrong. So I call on my own profession not to take this lying down. Fight for your patients. The older, and frailer, and less well off they are, the louder your voice should be. Costs will have to be cut in other areas. Maybe we could hold off building the private hospitals for a while and redirect that money into making sure the elderly can access any doctors or hospitals at all? I don’t know, as I have no experience in managing money of that scale.
But I know this is wrong.
P.S. I applaud all the TDs who resigned or who are protesting this despite the pressure on you not to criticise Budgetary decisions. GOOD ON YOU. You guys will have my vote in future if you run for anything.