Calls for automatic medical cards for over 70 Clare people living with spinal injuries

SPINAL Injuries Ireland has published a pre-budget submission calling on the government to automatically provide medical cards to over 70 people from County Clare who are living with a spinal cord injury.

The organisation made the call as part of its pre-budget submission and also wants the government to ensure that medical cards are provided to the 73 service users for a period of 10 years, without review.

Spinal Injuries Ireland (SII) estimates that 700 people, or almost one third of its 2,200 service users, do not have a medical card despite those who sustain a spinal cord injury (SCI) being medically certified as having a lifelong condition that requires medical support.

It said that medical card holders in Clare and other counties were living in fear of HSE reviews that could result in the loss of their medical card and that this fear had also become a barrier to them returning to the workforce and achieving the optimal outcome from their rehabilitation.

“The system for determining eligibility for medical cards is arbitrary and inhuman. It is delaying or denying treatment and the supply of necessary equipment to many people living with a SCI, and it is also preventing them from returning to work,” said Fiona Bolger, CEO of Spinal Injuries Ireland.

“The current process of reviewing medical cards annually or once every three years has created a climate of fear and uncertainty. It is causing enormous distress and anxiety and it is making it extremely difficult for anyone with a SCI to make long-term life plans,” she added.

“Spinal Injuries Ireland is calling on the Government to automatically provide medical cards to people with a SCI on the basis of their certified medical needs rather than their means and to extend the review cycle for medical card holders with a SCI to ten years,” she continued.

SII briefed senators and TDs on the issue last week at Leinster House. Clare Senator Timmy Dooley arranged the briefing in Leinster House and also organised for SII representative Kieran Fitzgerald to meet with Minister of State for Disability Anne Rabbitte.