14/10/2011

HSE Denies Health Card Cap

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has denied that it will cap the amount of health cards issued in 2011 after a document, containing proposed cuts, was leaked.

The draft document looked at possible options for cuts, due to the budget over-run by the HSE.

Proposed cuts in home help hours of 24%, and the reduction of personal assistant hours by 61%, between now and the end of the year were also outlined in the report.

The HSE has said that these cuts were "merely proposals" and in keeping with the current legislation, there will be no cap placed on the issuing of medical cards for the remainder of 2011.

Meanwhile they went on to say they were not seriously considering any of the proposals.

But the HSE said it is likely that the current funding will fail to meet the planned output for many services for the remainder of this year.

(LB/BMcC)

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