Older people in Cork to benefit from reduced prescription charges

Older people in Cork are set to benefit from Fine Gael’s new health legislation. That’s according to Minister Simon Coveney who is highlighting a new Bill reducing prescription charges for medical card holders aged 70 and over, as well as their dependents, from tomorrow, Wednesday, 1st March.

“New health legislation being introduced this week is good news for older people in Cork as it will reduce their prescription charges. This means more money in the pockets of older people as they care for their health.

“My Fine Gael colleague, the Minister for Health, Simon Harris, introduced the Health Amendment Bill to Cabinet today.

“This legislation reduces the maximum charge for prescription charges for those aged over 70 years with medical cards and their dependents. It will mean that from tomorrow, prescription charges will reduce from €2.50 to €2.00 per item and total prescription charges will be reduced from €25 to €20 per family, per month.

“335,000 older people across the country will benefit from this new legislation, as well as their dependents, bringing the total number of people set to benefit to 390,000.

“This delivers on a key commitment in the Fine Gael manifesto before the last election to reduce the cost of prescription charges for older people, and I am delighted that older people and their families in Cork will benefit.

“In addition, next week sees the introduction of the €5 per week increase in the Old Age Pension.

“Fine Gael is working hard to protect the economic progress we have made, so that we can use it benefit the people who need it most. This includes older people, and we are working hard to ensure that that the fruits of our economic recovery are shared with them, across every region of the country.”