Medical Card thresholds set to benefit Louth residents

Over 3,500 Disability Allowance Recipients in Louth may Benefit from new Medical Card Thresholds, according to Fergus O'Dowd.

Further to last week’s announcement on the “Making Work Pay” report, further details available on Medical Card Thresholds.

“There are plans underway to substantially increase the earnings disregard for people in receipt of Disability Allowance or Partial Capacity Benefit. According to the Department of Social Protection, approximately 3,550 people in Louth are in receipt of Disability Allowance, with a further 53 people in receipt of Partial Capacity Benefit.

“This change will allow those people to earn more from employment but while continuing to qualify for a medical card.  

“People with disabilities should not have to fear losing their supports if they want to take on more employment. These changes will encourage people with disabilities here in Louth to seek more work, safe in the knowledge that they will not lose their medical card.

“My colleague the Minister for Health, Simon Harris, has confirmed to me that work on developing a new and appropriate earnings disregard threshold will begin immediately, so I hope to see people here in Louth benefit from this measure soon.

“We are also going to ensure that the current requirement of such employment to be considered as rehabilitative in nature will be removed from the medical card application process.

“It is also really important that people with disabilities have accurate and up to date information on the medical card when making decisions about entering into or retaining employment.  Minister Harris is committed to implementing the recommendation in the Make Work Pay Report that requires the Department of Health to work with the Department of Social Protection and the HSE to ensure that this information is readily available and accessible to everyone who needs it.”