Furore over medical cards for over-70s

The government met with strong resistance when it tried to end 70-year-olds’ automatic entitlement to a medical card last year. It originally planned to make over-70s with an income of €240 a week ineligible for a medical card, but has since been forced to revise the threshold.

Now medical cards will still be given to over-70s with an income of up to €700 per week (€36,500 per annum) for a single person and €1,400 a week (€73,000 per year) for a couple. More than 3,500 people from all age groups in the Dublin South-Central constituency signed a petition to demand that the government rethinks its plan to remove automatic entitlement for medical cards for the over-70s.

Patients over 70 who already possess a medical card – whether as a result of a means test or not – will not be affected by the legislation.

The new system came into effect on 1 January 2009.