The implications of regional and national demographic projections for future GMS costs in Ireland through to 2026

Authors

Aisling Conway Lenihan, Cork Institute of TechnologyFollow
Martin Keneally, Centre for Policy Studies, University College Cork, 6 Bloomfield Terrace, Western Road, Cork, Ireland
Noel Woods, Centre for Policy Studies, University College Cork, 6 Bloomfield Terrace, Western Road, Cork, Ireland
Andreas Thummel, Darmstadt University, Karolinenplatz 5, 64289, Darmstadt, Germany
Marie Ryan, Centre for Policy Studies, University College Cork, 6 Bloomfield Terrace, Western Road, Cork, Ireland

Document Type

Article

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Disciplines

Accounting | Health Services Administration | Health Services Research | Other Public Health | Public Health | Strategic Management Policy

Publication Details

BMC Health Services Research

Abstract

As the health services in Ireland have become more resource-constrained, pressure has increased to reduce public spending on community drug schemes such as General Medical Services (GMS) drug prescribing and to understand current and future trends in prescribing. The GMS scheme covers approximately 37% of the Irish population in 2011 and entitles them, inter alia, to free prescription drugs and appliances. This paper projects the effects of future changes in population, coverage, claims rates and average claims cost on GMS costs in Ireland.

Recommended Citation

Conway, A., Kenneally, M., Woods, N., Thummel, A. and Ryan, M. (2014). The implications of regional and national demographic projections for future GMS costs in Ireland through to 2026. BMC Health Services Research, [online] 14(1). Available at: https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6963-14-477 ‌