Saturday, 23 July 2022 | 19.9°C Dublin
Grants of up to €1,000 every two years under changes to Treatment Benefit Scheme
Wearers of contact lenses can now avail grants of up to €1,000 towards the cost of medically required lenses every two years.
P reviously, the support was provided every four years to workers who required contact lenses for medical reasons.
New changes, under the Department of Social Protection’s Treatment Benefit scheme, have reduce that period by half.
Under the scheme, grants of up to €1,000 towards the cost of a pair of medical contact lenses will be provided every two years, or €500 for each contact lens.
The subsidy for employees and the self-employed has been announced by Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys.
The changes take effect immediately for people who qualify under the Department’s Treatment Benefit Scheme.
It comes as in May, Ms Humphreys announced a new €500 grant towards the cost of a hairpiece, wig or hair replacement. The measure is designed to support people who suffer from cancer or certain forms of alopecia.
She also announced measures that will mean people aged 25-28 will now only need to work for nine months to avail of dental, optical and aural treatments.
Announcing the changes in relation to medical contact lenses, Ms Humphreys said: “Contact lenses can be a costly expense and this measure is designed to assist people who require specialised lenses for medical reasons.
“This is the third positive change that I have introduced under the Treatment Benefit scheme arising from Budget 2022. It follows on from my introduction of a new €500 grant towards the cost of a hairpiece, wig or hair replacement and the easing of PRSI conditions for 25-29 year olds.
“The regulations that I have signed today ensure that these people, whether employees or the self-employed, are given the same treatment as those who might use the Treatment Benefit Scheme to receive support towards the cost of a pair of glasses.
"I will continue to examine what further changes we can make to this important scheme so that more of our citizens can benefit.”
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Funded out of the Social Insurance Fund, the Treatment Benefit scheme is available to employees, self-employed and retired people with the required social insurance (PRSI) contributions and to their adult dependants – almost 2.25 million people in total.
The Treatment Benefit scheme provides for full or partial funding for specified dental, optical, aural treatments, medical appliances – hearing aids and medical contact lenses – and a grant towards the cost of a hairpiece, wig or hair replacement.
It is the Department’s largest individual scheme in terms of claims with over 1.4 million made in 2021.
Expenditure on the scheme was over €109m in 2021, with an estimated additional €7m being reimbursed to the HSE in respect of people who were dual qualified for treatment – under both Treatment Benefit and the HSE medical card scheme.
For those who are prescribed to wear contact lenses for medical reasons the frequency of the need to change the lenses varies with their particular eye condition.
Some people must wear these lenses because they have a distortion in the shape of the pupil and the lens stops the distortion. In this case, the lens is a hard glass lens.
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