All terminally ill patients with a prognosis of up to two years will now be granted access to a medical card, regardless of means. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly secured Government approval to expand access to medical cards after calls for him to do so from cancer campaigners including, terminally ill patient John Wall. Together, we've achieved this.”Benefit of the medical card will apply to patients with diagnoses across a range of specialties such as neurology, cardiology, respiratory and oncology. There are currently some 1,800 medical cards granted on ‘end of life’ criteria. This was the quickest way to address the issues which had arisen since October when the Court of Appeal ruled that child victims should not be named.

Source: Irish Examiner February 10, 2021 06:30 UTC