# Medical card entitlement query



## Drumcircle (7 Nov 2012)

Hi
I was wondering if someone could advise me whether I would be entitled to an Irish medical card.  To quote from the HSE website, this is the section that would apply to me in part:

" you are living in Ireland and you are the dependent spouse or child of  someone employed in another EU/EEA country and Switzerland. You must not  be getting an Irish Social Welfare Payment apart from Child Benefit or  Early Childcare Supplement and you must not be liable to contribute to  the Irish social welfare system"

I'm Irish and divide my time between Ireland and UK.  But my place of habitual residence would be UK where my spouse pays taxes etc.  I thought there was an arrangement between Ireland and UK whereby if you are paying into the NHS in UK you would be entitled to a medical card in Ireland  but reading the above paragraph it seems to only apply if you as the dependent spouse live in Ireland full time.  In my case I would spend a few  months in Ireland each year.

Would I have to have habitual residency in Ireland in order to qualify and if so what would that entail?  Thanks to anyone who can clarify this for me.
(PS I am not talking about A/E treatment which is free for EU members, am more concerned about GP visits etc.)


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## gipimann (7 Nov 2012)

Here are the groups who qualify for a medical card under EU regulations:

You may be entitled to a medical card under *EU Regulations* if: 

You are living in Ireland and receiving a social security payment from another European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) country or Switzerland and you are not getting an Irish social welfare payment, apart from Child Benefit. You must not be employed or self-employed, that is, liable to pay PRSI)
You are living in Ireland and working in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland and are liable to pay social insurance contributions in that country
You are living in Ireland and you are the dependent spouse or child of someone employed in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland. You must not be getting an Irish social welfare payment apart from Child Benefit and you must not be liable to contribute to the Irish social welfare system, that is, to pay PRSI on your income.
You are not living in Ireland full-time, so you may not be eligible under any of the above criteria.

Above taken from:
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/health/entitlement_to_health_services/medical_card.html

You may be eligible for an EHIC card which does provide some GP cover.   There is more information from the Irish perspective here:
[broken link removed]

You should check with the UK authorities for any local arrangements for UK residents visiting Ireland (there is a local arrangement for Irish residents visiting the UK, which is mentioned in the EHIC webpage above).


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## Drumcircle (7 Nov 2012)

Thank you.  I think I'll go down the EHIC route which, having read up on the subject a bit more, will I think reimburse for GP visits etc.  Will see if I can get a list of Primary Care Reimbursement doctors.


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