From today, children aged six and seven will be able to get a free GP visit card.
It's part of the Government's plan to extend free care to a further half a million people.
Almost 80,000 children have the potential to benefit from today's development.
Parents can register their kids for a visit card on the HSE website.
So, what's covered with the card?
The card includes visits to the doctor, home visits, and out-of-hours urgent GP visits for your child.
Children can avail of free medical assessments that check their height, weight, and age, with follow-up action provided if necessary.
If a child has asthma, they'll get free asthma checks and their medication reviewed to make sure that they are using their inhalers properly.
A written plan to help you manage your child’s asthma will also be provided.
While trips to the doctor will be completely free of charge, medicines will still have to be paid for.
Card requirements & how to register
In order to register for a card, your child must ordinarily be a resident of Ireland and be aged 7 or under.
To ordinarily be a resident means that the child lives here now and plans to do so for the at least next year.
Once those requirements are met, you are good to go for registering!
This step requires you and your child's PPS number as well as an email address.
You will need to check that your family GP is participating in the scheme.
If not, you may need to get a new one but do double-check that your preferred doctor is accepting new patients.
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