Hospital overnight and per diem charges for under-16s are to be scrapped under proposals signed by senior ministers tomorrow to ease the financial burden on parents.
The measure, brought into Cabinet by Health Secretary Stephen Donnelly, aims to ease the financial burden on parents and could come into effect by the summer.
The fee applies to patients who are hospitalized and need to stay overnight and patients who need to spend the day in hospital if they have a procedure.
The fee is currently €80 per day and capped at a maximum of €800 per year.
However, the fee remains for patients under the age of 16 admitted to emergency rooms.
“Similar to measures such as giving children free GP care, the goal of this measure is to reduce the financial burden on parents,” a government source said.
The Indo Daily: Creaking under Covid – Is Ireland’s health system on the brink of collapse?
Abolishing the child fee requires legislation and Minister Donnelly hopes this can be passed by the Oireachtas before the summer recess.
The measure is part of the government’s policy to introduce affordable healthcare, and the Ministry of Health is in talks to extend free GP care to children aged six and seven.
Earlier this year, government officials examined whether hospital fees could be reduced as part of the first cost-of-living package.
Instead, the threshold for the drug payment system has been lowered from €114 to €80, which is the maximum amount that can be spent on drugs in a month.
Medical cards were also expanded to include the terminally ill and expanded to include people with a life expectancy of two years or less.
https://www.independent.ie/news/hospital-overnight-and-day-charges-for-under-16s-to-be-scrapped-41586367.html Hospital overnight and per diem fees for under-16s will be scrapped