Fewer than 900 GP visit medical cards were issued in a three month period to the end of June despite the threshold for eligibility being increased by 10%, it has emerged.
Information obtained by Fianna Fail shows that a total of just 863 additional cards were granted between April 1 and June 30.
The Government had boasted that thousands more would be entitled to the card - which saves the holder around €60 for each GP visit - after the eligibility threshold was raised by 10% in last October’s Budget.
But the figures show that the increase of less than ONE PERCENT in the numbers holding the card.
Fianna Fail health spokesman John Brassil described the number of new cards being issued as “incredibly low”.
He said: “Budget 2019 announced a 10% increase across all GP Visit Card weekly income thresholds.
“This was in keeping in line with the Sláintecare report which recommended that eligibility for free GP care should be extended on the basis of income.
“New figures released to me show that there were 508,859 GP cards in circulation at the end of March, which would indicate that the 10% increase in the income threshold only resulted in a 0.17% increase in the number of cards.
“This seems incredibly low, and leads me to believe that people may not be aware that they could be eligible for the card.
I think it is incumbent on the HSE to step up its efforts to make people aware of his change.”
The GP Visit card was introduced in 2006 when Fianna Fail was in government. The card allows people to visit a participating family doctor for free.
Deputy Brassil added: “If we want to place an emphasis on primary care and embed it as the first point of contact in health care we need to make it more accessible.
“This was one of the main reasons that the extension of the GP visit card was rolled out. There is now an onus on the HSE to ensure that those who qualify for it know about it.”
In recent weeks there has also been criticism of the way all medical cards are being issued after it emerged that over 210,000 applications had been cancelled since 2016 because people failed to provide relevant documentation in time.
But Fianna Fail Deputy Sean Fleming said he had come across cases the HSE claimed they never received the required documentation after individuals submitted them several times.
