Reported proposals to increase the amount patients pay under the Drugs Refund Scheme are "a direct attack by the Government on the sick and the elderly at a time when the coffers are overflowing," Democratic Left has said.
The Department of Health has refused to confirm or deny the reports - in the latest edition of Irish Medical News - saying a final decision had not been made. But DL's health spokeswoman, Ms Liz McManus, said the changes would, if implemented, cost an extra £120 per year for many low-income families and pensioners.
Another reported change - the removal of hundreds of drugs from the scheme - made neither "medical nor economic sense," she added. "The end result of all this will be doctors coming under pressure to prescribe the more expensive drugs that remain on the scheme."