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PATIENTS IN PUBLIC hospitals will no longer have to pay fees for overnight stays from today, following plans to abolish the charges.
Patients previously could be charged €80 per day for in-patient care, with a cap of a maximum of 10 days over 12 consecutive months costing €800.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has signed off on the abolition of in-patient fees, following the enactment of legislation to scrap them.
Donnelly said in a statement today: “I am delighted to announce that from today, people will no longer be charged when accessing public inpatient care in our public hospitals.
“This legislation removes the existing financial burden of public inpatient charges when accessing care in a public hospital. The removal of these charges, announced as part of Budget 2023, is an important step towards reducing the healthcare costs of patients and families.
“This measure builds on the abolition of public in-patient charges for children, which I introduced last year, and is another significant step in ensuring that people have access to affordable healthcare services.”
Medical-card holders and certain other groups were already exempt from the charges.
Funding was provided in Budget 2023 to abolish acute public in-patient charges in public hospitals.
Donnelly has previously said the cost of measure is around €30 million euro.
He said patients “facing serious treatment who are very sick are also being handed a bill of €800 euro”, adding that he is hoping to receive support from Cabinet colleagues today.
Children under 16 had fees for their hospital care abolished last year.
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The fees haven’t been scrapped. The taxpayers are now paying them.
@Hugh De Payans: who else would you like to see oaykng then Hugh?
@Hugh De Payans: who else do you suggest pays for social services?
@Hugh De Payans: must have private health Insurance, so.
@hard yaka: what will happen is,the hospitals will only bring in private health care,and make it that way,and the ordinary taxpayer and medical cars holders,won’t be seen,they have a plan already set up,mark my words.
Terrible idea, I think you should always pay something for a service even if it’s just ten euros.
@matthew donoghue: Visitors paying for parking would easily be more than that…
@Ronan O’Keeffe: great idea, only problem is hospitals don’t get the money from hospital car parking fees, thats another thing to look at
@Sue OB: I didn’t realise that.
Some people spent too much time in the USA here. Of course public hospital should be 100% free with the amount of taxpayer money it is allowed each year.
@Yvon Queguiner: the taxpayer is paying the lions share of it anyway. 80 euro per night is a drop in the ocean towards the actual cost of someones hospital stay, and that discounts everyone using a medical care and private/public insurance. I’m sure the 4 billion of usc a year will cover the government some people in here are so worried about being out of pocket.
Now time to abolish hospital parking charges as was promised as part of the programme for government. Families have enough on their plates having someone in hospital without adding to the already stressful situation
When the Elite have serious health issues they are off to the USA like a light! Irish healthcare is substandard. That’s the reality. Letting the government be in charge of any service results in lower quality.
It’s easy scrap the fees,when people are on waiting list for years,Even private health insurance can not get u seen with in 2 weeks like it was before,but people who are on list with medical cards,God help them all,because the hospitals will def only see private health,to claw the money back,we need only think back to 2006,when the lies were told,and changed the health boards to the HSE,Mary Harney lied because the wanted hospitals closed in every County,it took a few years to see the damage,HSE has too much power,like the local Councils..they won’t answer even to the government
have your say