Workers entitled to €2,540 payment with handy Irish social welfare scheme

Workers are entitled to claim €2,542 per year thanks to a scheme you may never have heard of.

Treatment Benefit is a scheme run by the Department of Social Protection (DSP) which makes a limited financial contribution to your dental, optical and aural services, RSVP Live reports.

The scheme is available to insured workers, the self-employed and retired people who meet the required number of PRSI contributions.

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Under the Treatment Benefit Scheme, you may qualify for:

• Dental benefit
• Optical benefit
• Hearing aids
• Hair piece or wig

It is advised to contact your treatment provider who will assess your eligibility before proceeding with any treatment. Here is everything you need to know about what you can claim and how.

Dental Benefit

Under this scheme, the DSP pays the full cost of an oral examination once per calendar year.

A €42 contribution towards either a scale and polish or – if clinically necessary – periodontal treatment, is also available once a year. If the cost of either cleaning or periodontal treatment is more than €42, you must pay the balance – capped at €15 for a scale and polish. There is no cap on the balance charged for periodontal treatment.

Optical Benefit

The Treatment Benefit Scheme also entitles you to a free eyesight test, once every two years. You can get a set payment, once every two years, towards either one pair each of reading and distance spectacles, one pair of bifocal or varifocals or one pair of contact lenses (including disposables). Cost will vary depending on the frames you choose. Basic frames are free.

If you need contact lenses for medical reasons, you can avail of up to €1,000 towards the cost of a pair of medical contact lenses (€500 for each contact lens) once every second year. This applies to a small number of eye conditions that make wearing glasses impossible. You must have a doctor’s recommendation. Contact lenses are not available on purely cosmetic grounds.

Hearing aids

Hearing aids may be provided by suppliers who have a contract with the DSP. The DSP pays the full cost of a hearing aid up to a maximum of €500 (€1,000 for a pair) once every 4 years. It also pays the full cost of repairs to aids, up to a maximum of €100, once every four years.

Hairpieces and wigs

You can get up to €500 for one hair replacement item such as a hairpiece or wig, in each calendar year. It does not cover surgical or topical treatments.

Hair loss must be from a disease or treatment of a disease such as cancer or alopecia. You must buy the hair piece or wig from the Department’s list of approved providers.

How to qualify

You must have paid Class A, E, P, H or S social insurance contributions. The amount of social insurance you need depends on your what age you are.

Claims are made through your provider (dentist, dispensing optician/optometrist/ophthalmologist or audiologist), who can check your entitlement in advance of treatment and claim payment afterwards.

Your provider will require some information to identify you such as your date of birth and PPS number. Prior to treatment, you will need to sign a Consent Form agreeing to your provider having this information and giving your consent to have this information supplied to the Department of Social Protection, to enable payment of your claim.

For more information click here.

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