GMS prescription drug charges may be introduced in Ireland

Ireland's Health Minister, Mary Harney, has revealed that prescription charges for medical card holders under the General Medical Services Scheme (GMS) are being considered as part of the budget package, as she outlined how she is trying to find 1 billion euros ($1.49 billion) in cuts from the 16 billion-euro health

'We are looking at everything in the health service. We are looking at prescription charges, for example, which we've never had in Ireland before,' she told the RTE TV's The Week in Politics last night, reported the Irish Times. However, the controversial plan to charge medical card holders 50 cents for every prescription item ' which has already sparked anger from pharmacists and social campaign groups - will raise just 20.5 million euros a year, noted the Irish Independent.

'We know that one in six people who get a prescription under the GMS are prescribed 10 or more items. Very few people need 10 or more items. The chief medical officer would say to me that that is not good for patient safety. It is on the table. It could be something like 50 cent per item prescribed. We have to do two things: we have to raise money and we have to discourage over-prescribing and the overuse of medication,' Ms Harney stated.

She added that if the country did not have the capacity to deal with its own economic situation, others would do it for the nation, noting that 'our lenders will stop lending us money unless we deal with the financial challenges that meet the country; we all know that...We are not going to allow that to happen. We have the capacity in Ireland to take the tough decisions that are necessary.'

Least well off will bear greatest burden, says Labour spokeswman

Labour health spokeswoman Jan O'Sullivan said the indication that the government was considering charging patents for every item they received under the GMS scheme showed they were determined to ensure those who could least afford it would bear the greatest burden in resolving the crisis in the public finances.

'Labour accepts that there is a massive problem that needs to be addressed and that a budgetary gap of 4 billion euros will have to be closed this year, but we do not accept that those who are least well off, such as people who are on the GMS scheme, should be forced to shoulder the burden. A charge such as the one suggested by the Minister today will simply mean that those on the lowest incomes will be singled out and forced to pay what amounts to yet another stealth tax,' she noted.