Medical Card: Examples of capital assessment
Aged over 70
Example 1
Dermot is 72. He has a social welfare pension and a small private pension, total €400 a week. He also has €70,000 in savings, and gets €3,500 a year income from the interest.
The HSE will calculate his income from this, either by taking the actual interest earned or using their notional rate, for example, 3%.
In Dermot's case, he is earning 5% actual interest, so he can opt for the notional rate of 3% instead.
The first €36,000 of capital is ignored, so €34,000 (€70,000-36,000) is actually taken into account.
€34,000 at 3% is €1,020 per annum, or €19.62 a week, when you divide the yearly amount by 52.
Therefore his weekly income assessable for the medical card is €400 from his pensions, plus €19.62 from his savings, totalling €419.62. He continues to qualify for the over 70’s medical card.
Example 2
Michael will be 70 in March 2009. He has pension income of €700 a week. His wife Helen aged 63, and is still employed at a gross wage of €500 a week. They also have savings and investments of €150,000 which give an annual income of €11,000.
In Michael and Helen's case, they are earning 7.33% actual interest, so he can opt for the notional rate of 3% instead.
The first €72,000 of capital is ignored, so €78,000 (€150,000-72,000) is actually taken into account.
€78,000 at 3% is €2,340 per annum, or €45 a week, when you divide the yearly amount by 52.
Therefore their weekly income assessable for the medical card is €700 from Michael’s pensions, plus €500 from Helen’s job, plus €45 from their savings, totalling €1,245. Michael will qualify for the over 70’s medical card, which will include Helen.
Example 3
Pauline has a net weekly income of €800, so she does not qualify for the over 70s medical card. However, she is resident in a nursing home, and pays €600 a week. She can apply for a general medical card, as she is below the income limit for a person aged 66-69 when her medical expenses are taken into account.
Related Documents
- Medical cards
The medical card scheme entitles certain people to free public health services. This document tells you the income guidelines and how to apply. - Universal Social Charge (USC)
The Universal Social Charge is a tax payable on gross income that came into effect on 1 January 2011. - Budget 2007
Budget 2007 was announced on 6 December 2006. Summary of the main changes.
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