GP visit cards

A GP visit card is a card that gives you free visits to a participating family doctor (GP). If you are not eligible for a medical card, you may be eligible for a GP visit card.

What does a GP visit card cover?

Your GP visit card covers the cost of visits to your GP and visits to GP out-of-hours services. Blood tests to diagnose or monitor a condition are covered.

The GP visit card does not cover hospital charges. Prescribed drugs are not free but may be covered by the Drugs Payment Scheme.

Changes to GP visit card eligibility in 2023

The weekly income limit for the GP visit card increased on 11 September 2023 and again on 13 November 2023. Check the table below for the new income limits for people aged under 70. If you were not eligible in the past, you may be eligible now.

You can apply for a GP visit card online.

You must be ordinarily resident in Ireland to apply for a GP visit card. This means that you are living in Ireland and intend to live here for at least one year.

You will qualify for a GP visit card with no means test if you are:

• Aged under 8 (see GP visit cards for children)
• Aged over 70
• Getting Carer’s Benefit or Carer’s Allowance, at full or half-rate

If you are aged under 70, your income is assessed by the HSE to see whether you qualify for a GP visit card. See below for information about the income limits.

Your income is assessed by the HSE using the medical card means test for people aged under 70. However, the income limits for the GP visit card are higher than the limits for the medical card.

Weekly income limits are based on your net income. This is your income after tax, PRSI and universal social charge (USC) have been deducted. There are extra allowances for children.

If your income is above the weekly income limit, you may still qualify for a GP visit card after you include allowable expenses such as childcare and rent (see ‘Allowable expenses’ below).

The weekly income limits increased on 11 September 2023 and again on 13 November 2023. If you were not eligible in the past, you may be eligible now.

Allowable expenses

Some living expenses are allowable. This means they increase your weekly income limit.

Allowable expenses include:

• Childcare costs
• Rent (not including any amounts paid by Housing Assistance Payment or Rent Supplement)
• Reasonable mortgage payments on your family home and other land or property.
• Mortgage protection insurance and associated life assurance.
• Home insurance.
• Maintenance payments you make.
• Nursing home, private nursing or home care costs for you or your spouse.
• Costs of travelling to work including:
  • The cost of public transport.
  • Driving expenses if a car is required, at a rate of 30 cent per mile/18 cent per km. If a couple needs two cars to travel to work, a double allowance applies. The cost of parking can be taken into account.
  • Reasonable contributions towards carpooling costs.

See examples of how you or your family’s income is calculated when you apply for a GP visit card

Read the HSE National Assessment Guidelines for medical card and GP visit card (pdf). You can also find a list of the documents you need to support your application.

Aged over 70 with dependants

If you are aged over 70, you are eligible for a GP visit card regardless of your income.

If you are over 70 and you have dependants who are aged under 70, for example, a spouse or partner your dependants may qualify for a GP visit card if your combined gross income is over €1050, but not greater than €1,400 a week.

If either of you are aged over 70, you will both qualify for a full medical card if your combined gross income is €1050 or less per week.

Income over the limit

When you apply for a GP visit card, the HSE will first assess your application for a medical card. If you don't qualify for a medical card, you will then be assessed for a GP visit card.

If your income is over the limit for a medical card or GP visit card, you may still qualify for a discretionary medical card if your medical expenses would cause you financial hardship without one.

If you want to apply for a discretionary medical card, you should also include information about your family’s medical expenses in your application.

Aged under 70

If you are under 70, you use the same application process to apply for a GP visit card as for a medical card. So, as part of the application process for the GP visit card, your entitlement to a medical card is automatically assessed.

You can apply for a medical card or GP visit card online on medicalcard.ie

You can also download an application form for the GP visit card and medical card (pdf) and email it to pcrs.applications@hse.ie or post it to:

National Medical Card Unit,

PO Box 11745,

Dublin 11

Aged over 70

If you are aged 70 or over, you can register for your GP visit card online.

You can also download the registration form for people aged 70 and over (pdf) and email it to pcrs.applications@hse.ie or post it to:

National Medical Card Unit,

GP Visit Card Over 70s,

PO Box 12629,

Dublin 11.

You can also call 0818 22 44 78 to ask for a paper registration form.

Application for a spouse or partner

If you are over 70, with a dependant spouse or partner who is under 70, and you think your income may be under the limit, you can apply for GP visit cards for both of you. To do this, you use the standard medical card/GP visit card application form (pdf) and include details of your income. (For the relevant income limits, see ‘Dependants of people aged over 70’ above).

Applying if you are a carer

If you get Carer’s Benefit or Carer’s Allowance, at full or half-rate, you are eligible for a GP visit card. You can register for the GP visit card for carers by email or post.

Appealing your GP visit card application

If your application for a GP visit card is refused, you will receive a letter from the HSE to let you know. The letter will also set out the reasons why your application has been refused.

If you are not satisfied with the decision, you may have it reviewed. Your circumstances may have changed, or you may have left out some relevant information from the original application.

If you are not satisfied with the review, you can make an appeal to the Appeals Office of your HSE Area. You can also find the contact details for the Appeals Office in the letter of refusal from the HSE.

The Appeals Office will conduct a reassessment of your application. This will be conducted by HSE staff who were not involved in deciding on your original application.

Reviews

Your entitlement to a GP visit card is reviewed periodically by the HSE. This is because your circumstances may change. If you don’t return your review form, your GP visit card may not be re-issued.

If you return your review form by the given date but the review process continues past the expiry date of your card, the HSE may extend your card’s validity so that you can continue to use it while the review is taking place. The extension is on a month-by-month basis, so it is advisable to contact the HSE Client Registration Unit (contact details below) to confirm that your card has been extended and continues to be valid.

Read the HSE National Assessment Guidelines for medical card and GP visit card (pdf). You can also find a list of the documents you need to support your application.

Check the status of your application for a GP visit card on the HSE website. You will need the reference number from your application.

You can check if your GP visit card is still valid on the HSE website.

Contact Lo-call 0818 22 44 78 or your Local Health Office for more information on GP visit cards. You can also contact the Client Registration Unit.