Prescriptions & Medicine Charges

MazyMo

Hi,

I just wanted to ask a fairly basic question about prescription charges.

If I obtain a prescription from a GP and bring this prescription to a chemist/pharmacist, what charges would I be charged by the chemist? (Assuming I would not have a medical charge).

Would I be charged a prescription charge by the chemist, and also a separate charge for the medication?

I'm just wondering how it would compare to the UK, where I would be charged just a prescription charge by the chemist.

dmeehan

you'll be charged whatever the medication costs

if you have to get medication on a regular basis there is a drub refund scheme, but i think it only applies to a ridiculous figure like €75 a month

ask for a receipt anyway, i think there is some info on that

MazyMo

So, is any prescription just included in the GP consultation fee?

Do chemists charge the same or different prices for GP prescribed medicines?

Is there any point in shopping around a few chemists for GP prescribed medicines to check prices?

dmeehan

the gp and the chemist are operated independently
the gp chagres you (€40) for the consultation and writes the perscription, and then the chemist/pharmacist charges you for the medication

vhi healthsteps costs €200 per year and this gives you back €30 per gp visit as well as other outpatient benefits

Victor

In most cases if it is a one of prescription you pay the doctor his consultation fee, he will give you the prescription and pay the pharmacy for the drugs / whatever. There will be some variation from pharmacy to pharmacy, but probably not huge.

Originally posted by dmeehan
if you have to get medication on a regular basis there is a drub refund scheme, but i think it only applies to a ridiculous figure like €75 a month

There is also a long term illness scheme where the drugs are essentially free to you.

You can write off medical expenses (doctor, prescription drugs and aids, hospital bills) over a certain figure (€250/year?) against income tax. Likewise, depending on the scheme you are in VHI / BUPA will refund over a certain figure (but will cover things like stress management / avoidance, but not mental health).

GuanYin

Pharmacists may, I believe, charge up to 30% on the the cost price of any medication. This is, as has already been stated, independant of the medical consultation.

The medical rebate scheme basically means that anyone taking alot of prescribed medication only has to pay the first 67 Euro (although it may now be 75) every month, after which the medication is free or subsidised.

Saruman

Its €75 a month... i have to pay it!! The actual cost would probably be a few hundred otherwise... damn stupid over priced medicine that possibly does more harm than good!!

Doctors always prescribe stuff to fix a problem.. rarely do they mention that in fixing one thing you may develop a dozen other more serious problems!!

Like when i was prescribed anti0biotics for a chesty cough... (did not even cure that!) next thing i know my Ulcerative colitis which had been in remission for a year is back! Still with me but im keeping it under control at the moment useing diet changes and natural vitamin suppliments etc.

smiles

Originally posted by Victor
In most cases if it is a one of prescription you pay the doctor his consultation fee, he will give you the prescription and pay the pharmacy for the drugs / whatever. There will be some variation from pharmacy to pharmacy, but probably not huge.
There is also a long term illness scheme where the drugs are essentially free to you.

You can write off medical expenses (doctor, prescription drugs and aids, hospital bills) over a certain figure (€250/year?) against income tax. Likewise, depending on the scheme you are in VHI / BUPA will refund over a certain figure (but will cover things like stress management / avoidance, but not mental health).

There's the general €75 euro one, its been going up and up over the last few months, initally it was £42 a month as far as i can remember.

The long term illness scheme is rubbish in this country, you have to meet so many crazy requirements, etc, before they'll even consider you. My mum's been ill for several years now and is still refused long term illness cover because she has many different related conditions and not one big one.

<< Fio >>

MazyMo

dmeehan said:

"vhi healthsteps costs €200 per year and this gives you back €30 per gp visit as well as other outpatient benefits"


So, what I don't understand is if you take this out why do they pay you back €30 per gp visit and other outpatient benefits?

If you only have to give them €200 per year ; what do they make out of it?

- or am I missing something obvious???

dmeehan

i dunno
well I never (touch wood!) have to go to the doctor 7 times a year to make a return on the €200 a year cost, and i suppose thats where they make their money

the healthsteps is a stand alone product, you dont have to be a member of VHI or subscribe to any of their plans

MazyMo

Oh, I gettit now...

So is there any benefit in taking out this sort of policy?

Or would it better (cheaper) to just pay the GP - and have no such policy?

Victor

Originally posted by MazyMo
So is there any benefit in taking out this sort of policy? Or would it better (cheaper) to just pay the GP - and have no such policy?

If you are healthy in your early 20s, it is probably expensive. However, you can become sick at any time in your life, so having insurance is handy.

MazyMo

thanks Victor

So, does this type of cover increase in cost as you get older? I guess it would.

Though if it was quite expensive would it not be better not to have (if it was very expensive) as is there not a *maximum* which anyone is supposed to pay on hospital charges in any one year?

Or maybe this cover only pays for GP visits....

Though if you had to go to the GP a lot, would the insurance company not just say that they no longer wanted to cover you anymore?

I don't quite understand this yet.....(sorry!)

But if someone was hardly ever use medical facilities/treatments then that person is paying for cover (and not receiving/using any benefits).

But if someone did start to use medical facilities which cost more than the annual cover. Then the insurance company might just say we don't want you any longer as a customer.....

So; I don't quite get it

Victor

VHI have a scheme where you pay a fixed amount based on the scheme (i.e. type of benefit) you wish to receive, regardless of age or health. No existing member is discriminated against (there is a waiting period).

BUPA have a scheme where they take into account age / health / lifestyle, etc. and charge accordingly. Hence younger, healthier people get better premiums. BUPA must pay compensation to VHI for the difference in customer profiles.

myhandle

If you have PPS number, you can contact you local health board and request a "Drug repayment scheme card", this is then prsesnted to the chemist (or if you use the same chemist every time, they will keep the number on file) for prescription ordered drugs.

Details are complex as always but basically you pay up to an amount and everything above that, per month, is taken care of by the health board, who then pay the chemist.

However, certain drugs are not covered, and the conspiracy theorist wonders why. The cream "Retin-A", used in the treatment of Acne and Wrinkles, inter alia, is not covered.

The reasons for this are unknown, conspiracy theorists might attribute causation to manufacturer refusing to grease bureaucratic wheels.

Victor

Originally posted by myhandle
However, certain drugs are not covered, and the conspiracy theorist wonders why. The cream "Retin-A", used in the treatment of Acne and Wrinkles, inter alia, is not covered.

Would it be because it is cosmetic, not medical (I know some cosmetic is medical). Over the counter (i.e. non-prescription) items are unlikely to be covered either.

MazyMo

If a single person (no family) takes out either of the following medical plans:-

Bupa Essential Plus plan
http://www.bupaireland.ie/ourproducts/essentialplus/cover.htm

or

VHI Plan B
http://www.vhihealthcare.com/info/products/planb_option/index.jsp

I believe the cover threshold for hospital treatment is around €55,000 or €65,000. These plans should cover this level of hospital treatment.

What would happen if major surgery was required and the cost of treatment exceeded the cover level? Would the patient be informed that their cover threshold was being approached in order that they could go to a public ward/hospital ?

Or would the patient only be informed afterwards that their treatment exceeded their threshold level?

e.g. If the limit is €55,000 and cost of treatment in hospital and major operation came to €85,000 do you get a bill for €30,000 ??

....which could mean some might have to sell their home

Victor

Originally posted by MazyMo
e.g. If the limit is €55,000 and cost of treatment in hospital and major operation came to €85,000 do you get a bill for €30,000 ??....which could mean some might have to sell their home

At least you would still be alive. I doubt many bills would reach such levels (short of a multiple pregnancy or multiple organ transplant).

I'm not sure if they would tell you in advance, but if you are in such dire need of care, they would treat first, bill later. They would take your VHI / BUPA number at the start.

MazyMo

I'll have to enquire and find out....

If anyone has ever heard what happens if someones medical costs exceed their cover threshold, please post any info here.

To be quite honest, I'm not sure I'd fancy still being alive if I was handed a bill for €10,000's

MazyMo

Victor,

When you said before that someone can,

QUOTE:
“write off medical expenses (doctor, prescription drugs and aids, hospital bills) over a certain figure (€250/year?) against income tax”

Do you mean only those medical costs which you have paid for out of your own pocket and have not been refunded?

If somone was in a VHI or Bupa scheme and either VHI or Bupa refunded expenses to you (such as gp visits etc), then I suppose you couldn’t write off the cost of (for example) gp visits against income tax; as they have been refunded to you.

I suppose if you were in either VHI or Bupa then you could write off the annual cost of being in the scheme, and also any medical expenses/medications which the scheme did not cover and you had to pay for yourself.

Or if you were *not* in a scheme, then you could write off any medical expenses which you have paid for out of your own pocket *including* gp visits (as these have not been refunded).

Victor

The objective of tax legislation with regard to health (and pensions and soem other areas) is to encourage those that can to help themselves. It works something like this for the typical Irish family.

Let us say you earn €52,000 per year and are married with two children. Your combined VHI bill is €1,000 per year. The family visits the doctor 16 times in the year @ €45, visit a consultant 6 times @€;100 and you buy €120 in prescription medicines, spend €100 on physiotherapy treatments and you (adult) visit the dentist twice.

• The VHI has the tax (standard rate 20%) deducted so you only pay €800 to the VHI, the government pays the other €200 to the VHI.
• The VHI part reimburses you for your appointments less a deduction (16*€20+6*€70+€100-€500=€340)
• When visiting the dentist, you have a filling done, you pay a small charge and Social Welfare pays the balance on the following check-up, no work is done and you are not charged (check-ups are free). I think the children are covered free for ordinary dental work.
• In calculating you tax, I think there is a (about) €500 minimum for a family (€250 for an individual) you can write off the VHI (€1,000, but you have the tax credit already), the unreimbursed medical expenses (€1,540 - €340 = €1,200-€500 = €700*20%). You can't write off the dental expenses. So effectively you are taxed on €52,000 - €1,000 - €700 = €50,300.

MazyMo

Hi Victor

thanks for the detailed info which you posted. This is really helpful and appreciated!

I've been reading & re-reading it. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it now...

When you mentioned about paying a consultant €100 per visit, I suppose you mean as an outpatient?

Can't a person visit a consultant (as an outpatient) as a public outpatient, and therefore not have to pay any fee? (even if you do have VHI or Bupa cover)

Victor

Originally posted by MazyMo
When you mentioned about paying a consultant €100 per visit, I suppose you mean as an outpatient?

Yes. After an initial consultation with my GP, I had an ultrasound done (private, two days later) on my liver for £70 and this was claimable expenditure. He then referred me to a (public) liver consultant.

Originally posted by MazyMo
Can't a person visit a consultant (as an outpatient) as a public outpatient, and therefore not have to pay any fee? (even if you do have VHI or Bupa cover)

Yes, it will be done free, but in my case the second ultrasound (after seeing liver consultant) it took something like 2 months to get around to (not priority).

MazyMo

The "Drugs Payment Scheme" means that no-one has to pay any more than €70 per month for medications purchased from the chemist.

Do you know if there is any similar government scheme which caps the amount anyone has to pay for GP visits in the month/year?

myhandle

I don't know of any government scheme, but I do know of someone who posts their GP (and consultants) receipts to the VHI and presumably gets a cheque back?

MazyMo

I think VHI only return a cheque for €13 for gp visits and a cheque for €39 for consultants visits.

And possibly (though I'm not sure) they only send these small amounts back when you have paid over a certain amount in the year (maybe a few hundred euro) in fees...

So, only when you have spent a few hundred euro yourself, they then start sending back cheques for the above amounts which only covers a portion off any fees over & above the first few hundred which you have to pay yourself...

Victor

Originally posted by MazyMo
Do you know if there is any similar government scheme which caps the amount anyone has to pay for GP visits in the month/year?

I imagine only if youa re so ill that you would be entitled to some long term illness / medical card scheme.

Originally posted by MazyMo
I think VHI only return a cheque for €13 for gp visits and a cheque for €39 for consultants visits. And possibly (though I'm not sure) they only send these small amounts back when you have paid over a certain amount in the year (maybe a few hundred euro) in fees...

You need to have paid over about €500 in the year (the options scheme may lower this).