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Dental treatment available to workers under the Benefit Treatment Scheme. Shutterstock/Minerva Studio
Grant
Treatment Benefit Scheme for dental works, hearing aids and glasses extended by 80,000 people
The amount of PRSI contributions necessary for young people to qualify has been significantly reduced.
11.27am, 30 May 2022
30.5k
8
MINISTER FOR SOCIAL Protection, Heather Humphreys, has announced this morning that the Treatment Benefit Scheme will be revamped to include an additional 80,000 people who are between 25 and 28 years old.
The scheme allows people who have made 260 PRSI contributions (five years of employment) to receive state supports for dental treatments, hearing aids, and glasses or contact lenses.
However, from today this threshold is being reduced to nine months of employment for the 25 to 28 year old age bracket, from 260 PRSI contributions to 39.
Currently, an estimated 2.25 million people qualify for Treatment Benefits.
Announcing the measure this morning, Humphreys said:
“The Treatment Benefit scheme is the Department’s largest individual scheme in terms of claims with over 1.4 million processed and paid in 2021.
“I am delighted to extend the scheme to benefit more workers, particularly our younger cohort, and I would urge all who have an entitlement to make sure they get the full benefit from their PRSI contributions.”
“Previously, a young worker in this cohort would have to clock up PRSI contributions over a five year period, that’s now reduced to nine months – and demonstrates our desire to support our young professionals when it comes to dental, optical or aural treatment.”
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People who have made the required amount of PRSI contributions can avail of an annual oral examination and a payment of €42 towards either a scale or polish or, if clinically necessary, periodontal treatment.
They are also entitled to a free eyesight test every 2 years and a grant towards glasses or contact lenses and a maximum grant of €1,000 for a pair of hearing aids every four years and a grant for repairs.
The scheme is also available to the dependent spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of those who qualify.
The grant is expected to support approximately 2,000 women or men during the first year of its introduction, and covers hair loss which came as a result of cancer or alopecia.
Humphreys said on Wednesday that: “This new grant is being introduced in recognition of both the physical and psychological impact that sudden hair loss can have on someone’s life.
The announcement today comes after Health Minister Stephen Donnelly telling the Dáil last week that a new, sustainable, long-term scheme is needed “that makes sure that everybody, whether on a medical card or not, can get access to affordable, high-quality oral healthcare when they need it”.
“Unfortunately, at the moment, that simply is not the case for too many people,” he acknowledged.
The Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was also told that there is a severe shortage of dentists, with the percentage of members of the public who didn’t receive an appointment was north of 50%
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You work you pay your tax and insurance and then you are medically retired. You get a medical and your contributions over the years don’t count any longer.
You change dentist as they don’t take medical cards, doctors as his medical card list is full.
Thats how the system fails people, me in this case.
Why is Stephen Donnelly telling us what is needed when he is the Health Minister? He has picked up this habit from Leo Varadkar of pretending to be a third party and criticising the system he is in charge of. It’s a classic deflection technique.
It’s pretty pointless as more and more Dentists are stopping taking, or even keeping medical card holders. It’s next to impossible to find a dentist that does, let alone one that’s taking on new patients.
The amount of hassle to get a free eye exam, glasses or dental cleaning as a dependent of a PRSI worker is almost not worth the benefit. Get the right paperwor, get it signed, post to Dept of Social welfare, have it returned because you did not fill it out perfectly because it is confusing, redo it, get it approved, and then hope there is room at your dental clinic in the alloted time before the benefit expires and you have to do it all over again. Total hassle, way too arduous and laborious. But that is the point, to say benefits are available but to make them incredibly difficult to receive.
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