#Budget2020: More medical cards promised and prescription charges cut in health budget
A reduction in prescription charges, more medical cards, and €25m extra for the National Treatment Purchase Fund are among the health measures included in the Budget.
Announcing Budget 2020, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe claimed that next year we will see a "full transition to a new, sound and stable model of financial governance within the health sector".
He said: "My colleague the Minister for Health, and the new leadership team in the HSE, have succeeded in containing the additional pressures in the Health sector to less than half of the level of last year.
"The new HSE Governance Board can prepare a 2020 National Service Plan with improved health services for our citizens, and without carrying over a large financial overhang from this year."
Among the new measures for health, which will see its allocation increase by 6.3% to €17.4 billion in 2020, are:
- An additional €25 million in the National Treatment Purchase Fund to reduce waiting lists.
- A prescription charges by 50c.
- A €10 reduction in the monthly threshold for the Drug Payment Scheme.
An increase in the medical card income thresholds for people over 70 by €50 for a single person or €150 for a couple per week. This will benefit up to 56,000 people.
Mr Donohoe added that following what he called the success of the roll-out of free GP care to children under six, from September, the Government intends to expand free GP care to children under eight and free dental care for children under six.
"These changes represent important cost of living reductions for the most vulnerable in our society," he told the Dáil.
