Today is the deadline for submissions to be made to a senior public servant appointed by the Government to recommend a new single rate of payment to family doctors treating all over-70s medical card holders.
Eddie Sullivan, chairman of the Public Appointments Service, was asked to take submissions from the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), which represents GPs, and the Health Service Executive (HSE), as well as other interested parties.
His recommendation will be considered by the Minister for Health and Children and by the Government at its meeting next Wednesday, October 29th.
GPs have been paid four times more for treating non means-tested over-70s medical card holders since an automatic entitlement to medical cards for all those over-70 was brought in by the Government in 2001.
They get paid an annual fee of €640 for each person over-70 who automatically got a medical card without a means test, while they get paid €160 a year for looking after those who are over-70 who already had medical cards by virtue of a means test before they reached their 70th birthday.
The new flat fee for GPs for treating the over-70s will have to be set somewhere between the €640 and €160 currently paid. At present, 355,000 over-70s have medical cards, and capitation fees to GPs in relation to them cost around €124 million a year.
The Taoiseach Brian Cowen had said the IMO had made suggestions aimed at bringing down drug costs without compromising patient care.
Following the Government climbdown earlier in the week on medical cards for the over-70s, the IMO said it was pleased the Government had found a way to ensure most people over 70 would not lose their medical cards.