Cancer care and medical card costs
Deputy Kenny described a man with cancer who cannot afford treatment costs and lacks a medical card. The Minister said health reform is needed, agreed the costs are a problem, and said he would raise it with the Health Minister while supporting movement toward universal healthcare.
I was recently contacted by a man in my constituency who is in his early 50s and who, unfortunately, received a cancer diagnosis about eight months ago, fortunately within the early stages of the disease. Because of that, and because of his income of just under €50,000 a year, he cannot get a medical card. He has commitments, he has to pay down a mortgage and he has other loans and so on. He does not have health insurance. He has found now that all his savings have gone and that he is struggling with hospital appointments, the cost of cancer care and so on. A recent survey done by AIG found that the additional costs for a person who has cancer amount to €1,104 on average per month. The Marie Keating Foundation has found that many people are more stressed about the financial impact of cancer than their recovery from the disease. Clearly, the answer is to grant medical cards to people on an emergency basis, renewed annually, if they have a cancer diagnosis. It would not cost a fortune. We are talking about quite a small number of people, but it would have a huge impact on those families. I ask the Minister to speak to the Minister for Health to ensure that this provision is put in place.
Comment on this
I mentioned earlier that the three key priorities of this Government are housing, climate and health. In health there will have to be reform. There was a lot of controversy yesterday in the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health as to how quickly that is delivered and whether it will be delivered. Our cancer treatment service has improved significantly in recent years-----
Comment on this
The Deputy is right. We have to ensure, then, that that cost does not result in other areas falling back. As the Deputy asks, I will talk to the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and see what plans he has in this regard. No one wants to see someone with cancer burdened with another worry about finances. Considering how we do that and how we deliver universal healthcare would be the best solution to this. That is a cornerstone of the Sláintecare strategy. Broadly, I agree with the Deputy's perspective. We need to try to move towards such a universal system. The funding has increased, as mentioned at the committee meeting yesterday. There has been some €6 billion in additional core funding in the past three years. We wish to continue on that path to provide universal care.