Government accused of medical card deception

Labour has accused the Government of "foisting an outrageous deception" on the Irish people in pledging to expand medical card cover.

The party's health spokeswoman Ms Liz McManus says the latest data show a decrease of 64,478 people covered by medical cards since the last election when the Government promised to extend medical card eligibility to 200,000 additional people on low incomes.

The figures, reported in today's Irish Times, show that some 6,296 people lost their medical cards last month alone and a further 2,068 had their medical cards taken away in December.

But a spokesman for the Department of Health has denied there was any deliberate attempt to reduce medical card eligibility when promises to the contrary had been made.

He said an extra 30,000 medical cards and 200,000 doctor-only cards were to be given out this year to low income families.

The Department is due to publish a report on the scheme and how it is funded later today.

Ms McManus said: "The saddest aspect of this scandal is that medical cards provide good value for money, they provide speedy access to GP care and alleviate the cost of prescription drugs and hospital charges for individuals and families on a low wage.

She said: "There has been no sign of the promised 30,000 full medical cards or the yellow-pack 'doctor visit' cards announced three months ago.

"The only actual change that has occurred since Mary Harney became Minister for Health is a series of increases in medical charges - A&E visits up 10, the cost of a hospital bed up 10, prescription drugs up to 85 per month," she added.