Pharmacies across the country will begin offering free hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to women starting 1 June, following a deal reached with Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, reports RTE.
The announcement was made today by Minister MacNeill and the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU), resolving a disagreement over how much the State would compensate pharmacies for providing the service.
HRT is a form of treatment where hormones are taken to relieve symptoms of menopause and can assist in managing related medical issues, reports RTE.
For several months, the IPU and Government had been negotiating how to make the treatment freely available to women. The issue was also addressed earlier this month at the IPU’s annual conference, where Minister MacNeill was present.
Discussions mainly focused on whether pharmacists should receive a €6.50 dispensing fee for offering the treatment, reports RTE.
Speaking to RTÉ News, Ms MacNeill confirmed that the agreed dispensing fee will be €5, with further dialogue on additional expenses.
“We’ve landed on €5,” Ms MacNeill said, reports RTE.
“We gave a couple of options, one was €5 and the other was for pharmacies to charge whatever they chose to charge and I would give them a signing-up fee to do that. Everybody has had a chance to reflect on that,” she said, reports RTE.
Ms MacNeill explained that under the new arrangement, “from 1 June women will be able to go in and get their HRT for free”, and expressed hope that pharmacies would enroll in the scheme “quickly so as to be ready for June to enable women to get their free HRT”.
In a separate statement, IPU president Tom Murray said: “Our main priority with the HRT scheme has been to ensure women receive the medication they need without cost, reports RTE.
“We are endorsing the scheme in good faith, backed by the broader commitments in this framework, including a review of the pharmacy fee structure,” reports RTE.
Health spokesperson for the Social Democrats, Pádraig Rice, stated that women “who have spent hundreds of euro on HRT already this year” deserve to be compensated.
“A firm commitment was given, by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, that free HRT would be rolled out for women from January this year. That commitment was breached,” said Mr Rice, reports RTE.
“Instead, the Health Minister has been unable to get an agreement, with the Irish Pharmacy Union, over the line until today. While I welcome the fact that this deal has belatedly been reached, women who rely on HRT have already spent, on average, hundreds of euro on this vital medication this year. If government promises are to mean anything, then this money should be reimbursed to all of those women,” added Mr Rice, reports RTE.
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