YOUR ENTITLEMENTS

Find out your entitlements across all Government health schemes.

Drugs Payment Scheme (DPS)

Under the Drugs Payment Scheme, an individual or family in Ireland should not pay more than €80 per calender month for prescription medication. (A small number of medications are exempt from this scheme)

All Irish residents who hold a PPS number are entitled to get medication under the DPS scheme, regardless of income.

Download DPS application form.

Medical Card

People with medical cards can access GP services, community health services, dental services, prescription medicines, hospital care and a range of other benefits free of charge or at a lower cost than normal.

Most people who get a Medical Card do so because their income is below a certain level.

From 2020, prescription charges for Medical Card holders are now €1.50 per item – capped at a maximum of €15.00 per month per family.

For patients aged over 70 years old, the prescription levy is now €1.00 per item – capped at a maximum of €10.00 per month.

Download Medical Card application form.

GP Visit cards

GP Visit Cards can allow individuals and families in Ireland to visit their family doctor for free. Only the cost of visits to your family doctor is free; you must pay for prescribed drugs, medicines and other health services similar to others who don’t have a Medical Card.

If you are granted a GP Visit Card you should also apply for a Drugs Payment Scheme Card if you don’t already have one.

All children under 8 years of age living in Ireland can get a GP visit card.

The under 8s GP visit card covers:

• free GP visits
• assessments at age 2 and 5
• out-of-hours urgent GP care
• care for children with asthma

Download GP Visit Card application form.

Long Term Illness Scheme (LTI)

If you have certain long-term illnesses or disabilities, you may apply to join the Long Term Illness Scheme and you will be supplied with a Long Term Illness book. This book allows you to get drugs, medicines, and medical and surgical appliances directly related to the treatment of your illness, free of charge. It does not depend on your income or other circumstances and is separate from the Medical Card Scheme and the GP Visit Card Scheme.

LTI scheme covers the following illnesses:

• Acute Leukaemia
• Mental handicap
• Cerebral Palsy
• Mental Illness (in a person under 16)
• Cystic Fibrosis
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Diabetes Insipidus
• Muscular Dystrophies
• Diabetes Mellitus
• Parkinsonism
• Epilepsy
• Phenylketonuria
• Haemophilia
• Spina Bifida
• Hydrocephalus
• Conditions arising from the use of Thalidomide

More information on the LTI Scheme here.

Free Contraception Contract Scheme

Free contraception service is available for people aged 17 to 31 years inclusive.

The scheme provides for:

• The cost of necessary consultations with GPs and other doctors to discuss suitable contraceptive options for individual patients and to enable issuing of prescriptions for same;
• The cost of dispensing of contraceptive prescriptions by Community Pharmacists
• The cost of fitting and/or removal of various types of long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs) plus any necessary checks, by medical professionals to fit/remove same;
• The cost of training and certifying additional medical professionals to fit and remove LARCs;
• Provision of the wide range of contraceptive options currently available to GMS (medical) card holders will also be available through this scheme, to include contraceptive injections, implants, IUS and IUDs (coils), the contraceptive patch and ring, and various forms of oral contraceptive pill, including emergency contraception.

European Health Insurance Card

The European Health Insurance Card or EHIC allows the holder to access health care services when traveling to other EU or EEA countries. Anyone who is living in Ireland or intends to live here for a year can apply for an EHIC.

Download EHIC Application form.

Further information for all of these entitlements is available on the HSE website.