A Sinn Fein TD has claimed that the HSE was issued policy instructions in 2023 to continue to automatically award medical cards for a full 12 months to Ukrainians even in the absence of what he termed any “operational capacity barriers to conducting a means test.”
He said this occurred “despite the provision in Irish law that entitlements should be on the same basis as Irish citizens.”
The policy for Ukrainians who arrived in Ireland from February 2022 was meant to be such that they would only be automatically entitled to a full medical card for a period of one year after their arrival, after which the means test criteria would kick in.
The claim was made by Sinn Féin TD John Brady during a debate on services for those seeking Protection in Ireland.
This followed reports in the Irish Examiner in March 2023 that Ukrainians whose medical cards were due for annual review were only set to get a three-month extension after which they would be subject to the normal means test process.
It is understood that the three-month extension was granted after Minister Stephen Donnelly “insisted on a three-month deferral to ensure adequate communication with the Ukrainian community.”
The Sinn Fein TD said, “at the outset of the Russian invasion, it made sense to award medical cards automatically to those seeking safety here, deferring the means test to a later date,” but it was his party’s policy to now favour “reducing the preferential treatment in the award of medical cards by conducting medical card means tests earlier for all.”
Access to GP Services for Ukrainians has formed a key part of the HSE’s initial response to the Russian invasion.
Under what the HSE termed a ‘service option,’ expressions of interest from GPs in local CHO areas, in which an accommodation centre (or centres) is located were sought to provide a GP general medical service based in the accommodation centre for a defined number of sessions each week.
Under this model the participating GPs would be remunerated on a sessional basis at €450.00 per session, with each session lasting for a duration of three hours.
The HSE stated that in circumstances where the number of consultations are such that the GP is not required to remain on site for the full three hours then payment should be for the full session as additional time will be required of the GP to do administrative work.
In circumstances where the full three hours are taken up with in patient consultations the GP is entitled to receive payment up to a maximum of an additional one third of a session to allow him/her complete follow up administrative work. This is remunerated on a pro-rata basis of €150.00 per such part session.