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LAST UPDATE | 15 Apr
ALL WOMEN WILL be able to access Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) for free from 1 June, the health minister has announced.
Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has said the government will also cover the dispensing fee – which will cost the state €5 per product – after patients and politicians claimed there was a “transparency” issue with the cost.
The €5 fee has been rejected by the pharmacy union, as some pharmacies charge more for dispensing. To incentivise pharmacies to sign up to the state-run scheme, the government will also give them a once-off €1,000 grant for the administrative change.
The medicine-based treatment, which is used to relieve symptoms of menopause, perimenopause and postmenopause, is already free for holders of medical cards, but otherwise can cost in the region of €30 to €70 a month.
Under the new scheme, the products will be free of charge for all, but women who have a prescription from their doctor would still have to pay for their GP visit.
Announcing the development today, Minister Carroll MacNeill said: “Improving care before, during, and after menopause is a priority for me and for the Government.
“We are committed to removing the cost of HRT medicines and products for women and Budget 2025 provided funding for the provision of State-funded HRT products for women experiencing symptoms of menopause.”
Pharmacists and the Department of Health had clashed over the delayed rollout of the scheme which meant women without medical cards still have to pay for their medication.
Some women told The Journal how they had to ration their HRT patches due to the cost, how they felt let down by the Government, with one woman saying she delayed taking HRT until January because she thought the free scheme would be in place.
Pharmacists told The Journal they had not received any details about the scheme before it was announced and had yet to be informed which medications would be included under the scheme, despite the plan for it to be in place by January.
Women who have paid for the medication in the six months the scheme was delayed for will not be reimbursed, the minister has confirmed. She said the reason for this was a lack of funding as well as the large volume of administration it would require.
Health spokespersons from Labour and the Social Democrats slammed this announcement. Labour’s spokesperson TD Marie Sherlock said that the government “must reimburse” women who had paid out of pocket for HRT this year, given that the scheme was originally meant to commence from 1 January.
She said that women who had paid out for HRT “in good faith” were now being left “high and dry”.
Social Democrats TD Padraig Rice urged the government to “strongly consider” reimbursing women for any HRT costs they had incurred since the beginning of the year, adding that the minister must “work constructively” with pharmacists to ensure that they can participate in the scheme.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s Liveline, the minister wouldn’t divulge what dispensing fee pharmacies had requested the government pay.
However, she is urging pharmacies to sign up ”in the interest of patients”. She also said it would allow the Department of Health to “get on with other things”.
Tom Murray, President of the Irish Pharmacy Union said the €5 fee per product dispensed is “not sustainable” given many pharmacies usually charge double that.
It comes at a time when more pharmacies are closing than are opening, and many pharmacists report making a loss.
“Pharmacies are actually at breaking point. It’s at the point where it can’t take on any more services, and we’ve been asked to take on a service at a loss-making manner, and I don’t think pharmacists are going to do that.”
Both the minister and the union have agreed to continue talks to find a solution but, one way or another, Carroll MacNeill expects the scheme to commence as planned in June.
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