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Income, Employment and Welfare Analysis of People with a Disability 2019

Health

A CSO Frontier Series Output

A CSO Frontier Series Output- What is this?

In this Frontier Series Output, a person with a disability is defined by the self reported disability indicator in Census 2016.

A person with a disability can have more than one type of disability, and will be included in each type of disability indicated in Census 2016. See Background Notes

Engagement with health supports from the state by people with a disability is examined in this chapter, using data from the Primary Care Reimbursement Service (PCRS). The PCRS records payments to all General Practitioners (GPs), pharmacists, dentists and other health professionals who provide free or reduced cost services to the public.

This chapter looks at medical card coverage, GP visitation coverage and HSE funded pharmacy claims among people with a disability.

Three in five (59%) people with a disability under 65 have a medical card or a GP visit card in 2019.

A medical card was held by 57% of people with a disability aged under 65 in 2019, compared with 33% of the total population. A GP visit card was held by 2% of those with a disability in 2019 compared with 11% of the total population. Therefore, three in five (59%) people with a disability have either a medical card or GP visit card, compared with 44% of all people. The proportion of people with a disability who have medical or GP visit cards is highest for those with an intellectual disability (81%) and lowest for those who have deafness or a serious hearing impairment (52%). See Table 4.1.

Disability Type	Doctor's Visit Card	Medical Card	No Medical or Doctors Visit Card
All Disability	8318	194322	139180
Other disability, including chronic illness	3882	94000	64110
A difficulty with basic physical activities	2072	75973	28372
A psychological or emotional condition	1536	55603	28753
A difficulty with learning, remembering or concentrating	1359	48570	23922
An intellectual disability	351	30268	7342
Deafness or a serious hearing impairment	983	17260	16776
Blindness or vision impairment	516	13283	8917
Difficulty working at a job, business or attending school or college	2379	87162	34327
Difficulty going outside the home alone to shop or visit a doctors surgery	1985	72401	30426
Difficulty participating in other activities, for example leisure or using transport	800	49810	12806
Difficulty dressing, bathing or getting around inside the home	626	34406	10084

Table 4.1 Number of People under 65 with a Disability who hold Medical and GP Visit Cards, 2019

The average cost of a pharmacy claim for a person with a disability was just over €18 higher than the State average in 2016.

Males with disabilities in 2016 had slightly higher average pharmacy claims at €73.60 compared with €70.50 for females. This pattern was replicated for State averages, where the amount for males €55.90 compared with €50.60 for females.

The average number of pharmacy claims for people with a disability was 12.2, below the average for the State of 12.7 in 2016. Females had more claims than males. The average number of pharmacy claims for females with a disability was 13.0 compared with 11.3 for males. For the State, the average number for females was 13.8 compared with 11.6 for males.

Between 2016 and 2019, the average cost of pharmacy claims for people with a disability fell from €71.90 to €62.80, while the average number of claims rose from 12.2 to 20.3.

X-Axis Label	Average cost of pharmacy claims	Average number of claims per patient	Average number of items per claim
State (people with and without disabilities)	53.3	12.7	3.1
People with a disability	71.9	12.2	3.6

Table 4.2 Average cost per pharmacy claim, number of pharmacy claim per patient & number of items per claim, by gender, age group, disability type, 2016 and 2019

Table 4.2 Average cost¹ per pharmacy claim, number of pharmacy claim per patient & number of items per claim, by gender, age group, disability type, 2016 and 2019
	People with a disability						State (people with and without a disability)²
	€	number		€	number		€	number
	Average cost¹ of pharmacy claims	Average number of claims per patient	Average number of items per claim	Average cost¹ of pharmacy claims	Average number of claims per patient	Average number of items per claim	Average¹ cost of pharmacy claims	Average number of claims per patient	Average number of items per claim
Year	2016			2019			2016

Average	71.9	12.2	3.6	62.8	20.3	3.6	53.3	12.7	3.1
Gender of patient
Male	73.6	11.3	3.6	65.1	18.2	3.6	55.9	11.6	3.1
Female	70.5	13.0	3.6	61.2	22.1	3.7	50.6	13.8	3.0
Age Group
0 - 24 years	44.8	5.6	1.8	47.7	8.9	2.0	27.4	5.1	1.6
25 - 34 years	47.3	7.8	2.2	51.0	14.4	2.6	33.5	8.9	1.9
35 - 44 years	55.8	8.0	2.6	56.0	16.7	3.0	40.4	10.2	2.2
45 - 54 years	63.8	8.4	3.0	60.7	19.5	3.4	48.1	12.9	2.7
55 - 64 years	72.3	9.9	3.5	63.4	22.1	3.8	55.8	16.5	3.2
65 - 74 years	80.6	13.4	3.9	66.0	24.8	4.0	59.1	19.1	3.5
75 - 84 years	81.5	17.6	4.2	69.2	26.9	4.2	65.5	22.0	3.9
85 years and over	75.7	22.3	4.1	66.0	27.0	4.1	70.8	24.5	4.1
Disability Type
Blindness or a serious vision impairment	77.7	14.8	3.9	67.1	22.0	3.8
Deafness or a serious hearing impairment	73.1	14.3	3.9	61.8	22.1	3.8
A condition that substantially limits one or more basic physical activities	79.6	15.8	3.9	68.8	24.0	3.9
An intellectual disability	75.7	9.4	3.3	64.4	16.3	3.2
Difficulty in learning, remembering or concentrating	76.6	13.0	3.7	65.3	18.5	3.5
Psychological or emotional condition	70.1	11.1	3.4	64.7	19.4	3.5
Other disability, including chronic illness	77.9	14.2	3.8	67.6	22.8	3.8

Difficulty with dressing,bathing and getting around the home	83.1	18.4	4.0	73.7	24.1	3.9
Difficulty working at a job or attending school/college	78.1	14.2	3.7	67.4	21.1	3.7
Difficulty going outside the home alone	81.9	17.3	4.0	71.8	23.6	3.9
Difficulty participating in other activities	79.7	15.6	3.9	69.0	22.4	3.8
¹Expenditure includes ingredient costs, fees and vat on pharmacy claims for GMS patients only and is exclusive of Stock costs, fees and vat.
²State data is from CSO release HSE Funded Pharmacy Claims. 2019 data is not yet available.

Open in Excel: Income, Employment and Welfare Analysis of People with a Disability 2019 Table 4.2 (XLS 13KB)

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Table 4.1 Number of People under 65 with a Disability who hold Medical and GP Visit Cards, 2019
	Number of People			%
Disability Type	GP Visit Card	Medical Card	No Medical or GP Card	Total	% with GP or Medical Card
State (people with and without a disability)¹	524,290	1,549,430	2,698,940	4,772,660	44

Total persons with a disability	8,320	194,320	139,180	341,820	60

Blindness or a serious vision impairment	515	13,285	8,915	22,715	61
Deafness or a serious hearing impairment	985	17,260	16,775	35,020	52
A condition that substantially limits one or more basic physical activities	2,070	75,975	28,370	106,415	73
An intellectual disability	350	30,270	7,340	37,960	81
Difficulty in learning, remembering or concentrating	1,360	48,570	23,920	73,850	68
Psychological or emotional condition	1,535	55,605	28,755	85,890	67
Other disability, including chronic illness	3,880	94,000	64,110	161,990	60
Difficulty with dressing,bathing and getting around the home	625	34,405	10,085	45,115	78
Difficulty working at a job or attending school/college	2,380	87,160	34,325	123,870	72
Difficulty going outside the home alone	1,985	72,400	30,425	104,810	71
Difficulty participating in other activities	800	49,810	12,805	63,415	80
¹Data from PCRS Eligibility Report December 2019. Includes all age groups.

Income, Employment and Welfare Analysis of People with a Disability 2019

Health

A CSO Frontier Series Output

Health

Three in five (59%) people with a disability under 65 have a medical card or a GP visit card in 2019.

The average cost of a pharmacy claim for a person with a disability was just over €18 higher than the State average in 2016.

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