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Minister Carroll MacNeill announces state funded HRT will commence for women from 1 June and announces she is also covering a dispensing fee – a step forward from Budget 2025 which only covered the medication costs

Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has today (Tuesday 15 April) set out how the Budget 2025 Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) initiative, which is designed to give patients access to HRT products and medicines at no charge, will be implemented, and has been developed.

Minister Carroll MacNeill said:

“I have written to all community pharmacies today asking that they support and facilitate the women in their communities to access State-funded HRT products and medicines.

"In doing so, I am committed to supporting each participating pharmacy by paying them a €5 dispensing fee per HRT medicine/product dispensed to all eligible patients, including those existing patients under the GMS/DPS Schemes and for all other patients prescribed HRT (“private patients”), and a €1,000 once-off grant to every participating community pharmacy.

"I have set the 1 June as the date for commencement of this support. This will allow participating pharmacies time to be ready to facilitate the free HRT scheme to their customers.

"This means that women would be able to access the product and medicines at no charge, including dispensing fees in participating pharmacies from the 1 June. This is an advancement on the Budget 2025 measure which covered the cost of the medication only, and the women would have had to pay for the dispensing fee. Under this new measure women will have to pay nothing if their pharmacy signs up.

"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.

"I hope today’s commitment to pay a dispensing fee of €5 per product and a €1,000 once-off grant to participating pharmacists will deliver this initiative to the women of Ireland, noting that this is in addition to the Budget 2025 commitment to cover the cost of the medication.”

The HSE will today notify all community pharmacies of the reimbursement arrangements, the process for participation and the mechanism to receive the €1,000 grant. An information campaign will commence in the coming days providing further information for patients. The prescription charges for medical card holders in relation to HRT medicines and products on the reimbursement list would also be abolished.

The Department of Health regrets that an agreed implementation of this measure could not be agreed with the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU), despite engagement over many months.

To try to find a resolution to the remaining issue regarding dispensing fees, the Minister offered the IPU the option of:

  • a €5 dispensing fee per HRT medicine/product dispensed to all eligible patients, including those existing patients under the GMS/DPS Schemes and all other patients prescribed HRT (“private patients”) to be funded from the combined allocation for 2025 for pharmacy and HRT, and a €1,000 once-off grant to every participating community pharmacy

OR

  • a €3,000 once-off grant to every participating community pharmacy. Community Pharmacies may then have continued to apply dispensing fees as before, having regard to existing arrangements

These offers did not lead to an agreement with the IPU.

“I want to see pharmacists practicing at their full potential, delivering expert professional services and expanded healthcare roles like diagnosing and prescribing for common conditions. This will enhance patient access to health care, speed up diagnoses, and improve recovery, as we also continue to expand GP services for Ireland’s growing population. I look forward to working on this with pharmacies as the year progresses.”

Notes

To access this support, women will be asked to register for the Drug Payment Scheme (DPS).

People can apply for the Drugs Payment Scheme (DPS) online, by post or by email.

For anyone included in the application they'll need to provide their:

  • full name
  • date of birth
  • sex
  • PPS number
  • address
  • contact details

Online applications can be made at https://www2.hse.ie/services/schemes-allowances/drugs-payment-scheme/apply/

Women’s Health and Background to the Initiative

Over recent years improving care before, during, and after menopause has been a priority for the government under successive Women’s Health Action Plans.

We have heard from many women that they often feel dismissed in their experience with menopause, that the cost of menopause care is a burden, and that some women have even considered giving up their jobs due to the severity of their symptoms.

In response, significant funding has been provided for the ongoing implementation of developments in the area of menopause.

This has facilitated, in a stepwise manner, a range of important interventions including:

  • the establishment of a GP Clinical Lead for Women’s Health in 2021;
  • the launch of a National Menopause Awareness campaign;
  • the removal of VAT from non-oral forms of HRT from 1 January 2023, and
  • the opening of six specialist menopause clinics for women who have complex experiences of menopause

In Budget 2025, a further step towards supporting women with menopause was provided, with €20 million allocated and available from January 2025 for the provision of State-funded HRT products for women experiencing symptoms of menopause.

The purpose of this initiative was to push these interventions further again and continue the momentum into another phase of development.

Facilitating implementation

The approach to implementation of this measure is based on using existing community drug scheme architecture such as the Drug Payment Scheme to facilitate the reimbursement of pharmacists.

This architecture is well established, can be used for reimbursement for HRT medicines, with a minimal adaptation and builds on a system that is well understood by pharmacies.

Given the challenging international HRT supply context and the requirement for greater use of Exempt Medicinal Products (EMPs) (unlicensed medicines) the use of the Drug Payment Scheme architecture will support the reimbursement of EMPs where there is a shortage of a HRT product on the reimbursement list.

In 2024, the State reimbursed approximately €520 million in dispensing fees and over €1,200 million in medicines costs to community pharmacies using this architecture.

This supported dispensing of over 100 million medicines and products and associated reimbursement claims per year. Community Pharmacies are very familiar with this architecture and use it day in, day out.

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