PEOPLE will now go blind because the government has cut reimbursements for patients travelling to Northern Ireland for sight-saving cataract surgery, a West Cork TD has claimed.
That’s the blunt reality facing people in West Cork after a pricing ‘reclassification’ for cataract procedures, according to TD Michael Collins (Ind Ire).
The HSE has confirmed it will permanently reduce the reimbursement rate applicable to patients seeking cataract treatment under its overseas and cross-border treatment schemes from September 1st.
Independent Ireland party leader and Cork South West TD Michael Collins, with other politicians, has organised buses and accommodation bringing people up North for surgery since 2017. In that time he estimates more than 2,000 people have availed of the ‘Belfast or Blind’ bus service, with more than 4,000 procedures carried out.
The procedure currently costs patients around €2,150 but patients were reimbursed €1,912 here by the State. The reclassification of cataract procedures pricing means a reduced reimbursement. The Southern Star believes the new proposed reimbursement is €1,073. ‘It’s not enough. This means that people will still be down almost €900. People simply can’t afford that,’ said Deputy Collins.
‘Cataracts deteriorate quickly and if people don’t get the surgery in time, it can be irreversible. When the new pricing was introduced, I had three people cancelling the bus. I had one person saying “I’ll have to go blind” because they couldn’t afford it. They’ve since rebooked because the government is delaying the new pricing until September. I had another person on the bus and he said the government is “robbing us blind”. Make no mistake, these cuts will mean people going blind.’
The HSE said it deferred the new reimbursement pricing to September 1st ‘to ensure no one is disadvantaged’.
Deputy Collins said the Belfast or Blind service has now run 154 buses to the North. ‘They were all filled with ordinary hard working people who were absolutely betrayed by major service deficits here at home,’ he said. ‘Some of the people on the buses are paying for private health insurance but their cover doesn’t include cataract surgery.
‘The procedure itself takes less than half an hour. It would be much better if these services were available in Bantry Hospital, Mallow, or Cork city. But the reimbursement meant that at least people could get this care.
‘Savings accrued to the HSE following these cuts will be a drop in the ocean of its overall multi-billion euro annual budget, but it will mean light or total darkness to the people I represent.’
Deputy Collins said the demand for the operations has shot up since the announcement. He has three buses travelling North in July. ‘People are worried now that they must get it done by September before it becomes too expensive. I could fill a bus for every day of August with the numbers looking,’ he said.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said in April that wait times had plummeted in Wicklow, Kildare and south Dublin, from waiting six years to have cataracts removed to ‘now waiting less than 12 months, and falling’.
Deputy Collins said he believes that the problem has not been prioritised because things are worse regionally.
The TD also brings buses to the North for other procedures, including hip operations. ‘Ironically, the reimbursement for hip procedures looks like it will go up, so more people are likely to start looking at getting the bus for these,’ he said.
