No Country to be Old and Sick

Older & Bolder is alarmed at the changes in medical card eligibility criteria announced as part of Budget 2013.

Older & Bolder Director, Patricia Conboy said, “These changes will not yield savings from the wealthiest in our society, rather it is middle Ireland, older people on incomes just above the new threshold, particularly those living alone, that will be hit hardest by the loss of the medical card. Unlike the medical card, the GP cards does not offer the same access to a range vital supports including public health nursing, social work services, community care services and certain in-patient public hospital services. In addition, any prescribed drugs associated with your GP visit are not free. The security that the medical card provides, especially for older people with ill health, cannot be underestimated. We hear from people who would forgo their modest occupational pensions in order to retain their medical cards”. 

Patricia Conboy continued, “The cost of being sick and older in Ireland has now increased. For those with medical cards, prescription charges have increased by 300%. For those without a medical card and with high medical costs, changes to the Drugs Payment Scheme mean the threshold for support in purchasing prescription drugs has increased from  €132 a month to €144”.

Patrica Conboy described the property tax as “an unforgiving tax for older people. The proposal to pursue property tax after death because people cannot afford to pay it in life does not strike us as being fair. Older people have, over decades and during periods of very high interest rates, striven to pay off their mortgages. A reasonable and widely shared goal is to arrive into older age debt free in order to maximise independence post-retirement and to pass on something, other than debt, to a future generation. This proposal risks turning a hard won asset, house ownership, into a liability”.

Older & Bolder welcomes the retention of the State Pension at current levels though the reductions to telephone and electricity allowance will cause concern. While on the face of it the announcement that the fuel allowance has not been reduced further this year seems positive, the increases in carbon tax on coal and turf will, in all probability, increase the cost of heating for older people.

Ms Conboy concluded, “with this Budget the devil is really in the detail, not all of which is available to us at the moment. Over the coming days Older & Bolder will continue to analyse the proposals to gauge the exact implications for older people."