Over 70s GP visit card and charged for blood test

This is a difficult one, and its probably easier to just read the reply to the parliamentary question than have me rephrase it.

Basically - lots of doctors charge for blood tests, and its really unclear as to whether they should or not. Pay and complain to the HSE is the recommendation.

Other services that require kit (monitors) or specialist skills etc aren't covered. There's a list of items that they can claim for if they provide to medical card holders - DVC holders should expect to pay for these. The card covers the visit element of bills. It also covers A&E costs if you go without referral.

The two goes a year for diabetics sounds like a mangling of the chronic condition management scheme where a surgery can get extra fees for up to two visits a year relating to certain chronic conditions for medical card/DVC holders.

GP Cards cover your visit to the GP but not the cost of the prescription. The prescription cost is capped under the Drugs Payment Scheme.

The GPs are in a dispute with HSE over the bloods which has been going on for years and years.

Basically the HSE says that what your GP gets from them to care for you covers blood tests (the blood samples are taken to the lab by courier and he/she has to be paid) but the GPs say it is not. So your GP is charging you a nominal amount to bridge the gap.

Things your GP/Medical card doesn’t cover is for example anything like the Medical Report for a Driving Licence if you needed one. Or medical reports needed by you for anything really, say, life/holiday/health insurance. Or a medical report needed for legal reasons, say, if you are pursuing a compensation claim or are under investigation for something yourself.

GPs aren’t obliged to complete any of these forms at all but they will of course and will charge you whatever they like, the same as if you rang a plumber to come and unblock the sink.

I have heard of anything from €20 to €100 for the driving licence form and €130 upwards for the medical report forms that insurance companies send out.

Any Social Welfare medical reports that are needed completing are completed for free because the GPs are reimbursed for these.

What I would say to you is that if your GP is recommending that you take any extra medication or treatment or therapies or counselling etc that you should have no hesitation in asking your GP if it is covered under the medical card scheme.

The 20 Euro charge is used to cover the transport costs of the blood sample. The sample itself is free and covered by the medical card.

Another way to extract money out of patients!

Just for clarity, the Drugs Payment Scheme cap only applies to medicines on the DPS list. Anything prescribed that isn't on the list must be paid for. I pay 104 euro each month because one of my meds isn't covered (the GP didn't know this, by the way). Had to get a Px before a hospital procedure this month, the medication wasn't covered either, so my May Px bill was 120 euro.

Medical Card holders can be asked to pay for blood tests, if the test is requested by someone other than the GP.

My mother is under the care of a hospital consultant (public patient), can't travel to the hospital, so gets regular blood tests for the consultant at her GP clinic. She has to pay for them.

I always have to pay for blood test with full medical card.

Again, people appear to be getting confused about what is and is not covered by a Full medical card.

A driving licence renewal form is absolutely not. If a person is not prepared to wait for a hospital to do screening for a Diagnosed illness as part of their out patient clinical appointments they'll pay for blood tests. Some GP surgeries actual manage a Diabetes Diagnosis & ongoing treatment to include blood tests and all covered under the Medical Card scheme free. Others don't and it's the hospital that manages blood tests, screening for free. Retina screening also free if you've a full medical card.

The long term illness scheme seperately also allows those with some illnesses, including Diabetes 2 requiring Medication (Me) to get prescription, equipment, strips for testing free.

Routine Blood Tests are Not covered by the Medical Card, only those required for a diagnosed illness requiring regular blood tests & screening & if your GP manages these illnesses, more times than often it's a consultant out patients clinic in a public hospital that manages treatment & bloods free.

I can appreciate the confusion between Routine & Required Blood Tests, Form filling etc but it was never intended for a full Medical Card to cover every expense when visiting a GP surgery.

My GP and others in the area now use a private lab for blood tests, the samples don't go to the local hospital any more.

My GP also charges private patients more if their blood test was requested by a consultant rather than by a GP in the practice (50 euro Vs 30 euro).

The charge for blood tests at our doctor's place is in force for more than 5 years. The reason given was always the occuring transport costs.

We would get the test for free at the hospital- but that would mean travelling costs- taxi and train- much more than the charge at the doctor.

There is no service here from the HSE to collect the samples from the doctors and bring them to a test lab. All done by a private courier here- and somebody has to pay for that! Why should the doctor fork out the money?

This is a very well known problem for many years now. The taking of the sample and its analysis is free for MC patients- but not the transport of the samples. Both HSE and the doctors know about the problem- but have not come to an agreement about it. So it is the patient who has to pay for this not sorted out problem.

We have the GP visit card. When I have to have a blood test the GP gives me the medical request form, I make the appointment with the hospital and get it done there, so no charge at all to me. Hubby had blood taken in the GP's surgery once, and he just left without going to reception as he believed the taking of blood was free, and nobody rang us looking for the payment, but I wonder if he would have been charged had he gone to the reception.

Before we had the GP visit card we went to the hospital for the blood test and we only had to pay the GP his fee. He told me to have it done in the surgery by the nurse, and I told the doctor I'd rather go to the hospital. He asked "why, it's quicker if you have it done here", and I said why should I pay €30 when I can get it done free. He was not at all happy! If several patients each paid €30 in a day to our GP to take blood, how much would they be pocketing to deliver it to the hospital? Does this information come under Freedom of Information?

It is indeed a well known problem for years. HSE and the GP organisations did not reach an agreement in the matter. The HSE is firm on its position- and so are the doctors. This will go on until the doctors organisations and the HSE have reached an agreement which is accepted by all sides.

Hospital Charges – Tuesday, 10 May 2022 – Parliamentary Questions (33rd Dáil) – Houses of the Oireachtas

GMS (Medical Card) Patient Price List | Dr. Bannon Mullingar (drbannonmullingar.ie)

HSE refunds €2,600 to medical card holders who paid GPs for blood tests | Independent.ie

Notice-about-Medical-Card-FINAL-new-(HR).pdf (imo.ie)

Department of Health explain why some medical card holders are being charged for blood tests - RSVP Live

Midwest Radio - Why GP’s are charging medical card holders for blood tests - The Tommy Marren Show

Doctor charges that make the blood boil – Connacht Tribune – Galway City Tribune:

Do you expect the private courier to work for free, or you you expect the doctor to fund it from his pocket? Not clear what you're getting at here.

I've also met the courier contracted out to the HSE to collect bloods for testing from my GP Surgery

I wouldn't describe my GP as 'scum' either. He has always been professional, nothing scummy about him at all. If the surgery is a long distance from the hospital then they may well use a courier and of course that has to be paid for, but to pay my GP €30 when the hospital is merely a 10 min drive, would any of the staff deliver it themselves? Now surgery staff might be shocked and appalled to hear me suggest that but I only base that on my own working experience (before I retired) of delivering parcels and post to the post office centre which was way out of my way but just something office staff took for granted they had to do. Am I asking the impossible?

Yes, a different world all right. Would you say GDPR and insurance view a random taxi driver or courier as a better option than a member of the surgery staff who we already trust with our intimate medical details?

Well if I’m a particularly malicious embittered doctors receptionist and I can’t stand Dr Ryan’s patient Mrs Cleary because she’s a pain and I’m asked to bring her blood sample to the hospital with the other samples then it may or may not arrive there and I’ll just blame the lab if the results don’t come back.