The Government has announced a ten-point reform plan for the medical card system.
The reforms will introduce a single application process within the Health Service Executive for all medical cards and other medical schemes.
An enhanced assessment process for medical cards is to be introduced to take account of the burden of an illness.
GPs are also to be given extra powers to extend medical card eligibility for certain patients in difficult circumstances.
Medical cards given to people with terminal illnesses will no longer be reviewed.
Minister for Health Leo Varadkar said the new medical card system will be fairer and more humane.
He said the HSE will be empowered to provide people with therapies or appliances, in the absence of a medical card, if that is what they need.
The HSE will develop what it said is a "single, integrated process for people to apply for a medical card, GP visit card, the Long-Term Illness Scheme and the Drugs Payment Scheme".
Mr Varadkar said that, in conjunction with the Expert Panel on Medical Need for Medical Card Eligibility, it was concluded that a financial means-test remains the fairest way to assess eligibility.
Mr Varadkar told RTÉ's Drivetime that the Government has created a system with "much greater and wider discretion".
He said the Government had made mistakes and the new system will provide for "much more humanity and compassion".
Minister of State for Primary and Social Care Kathleen Lynch said the reforms will make the medical card scheme "easier for people to understand and provide a high-quality customer service".
The reforms follow the major controversy over the withdrawal of discretionary medical cards in the lead-up to the Local and European Elections.
The Government then promised a review, a halt to certain card reviews and a return of 15,300 discretionary cards that had been withdrawn.
Two major reports have also been published today: the Expert Panel on Medical Need for Medical Card Eligibility, chaired by Professor Frank Keane; and the Prospectus Report on how the HSE manages the medical card review process.
The Expert Panel recommended that a person's means should remain the main qualifier for a medical card.
It also said it would not be feasible, desirable, or ethically justifiable to list medical conditions in priority order as a means of determining medical card eligibility.
There will be changes in relation to the discretionary medical card process, allowing the HSE to also take account of medical hardship and burden of illness in assessing certain cases.
A clinical advisory group is to be established by the HSE, to develop guidelines on assessing applications involving significant medical conditions.
The HSE is to also ensure a more integrated and sensitive application process, involving a greater exchange of information between the central assessment office and local health staff familiar with the patient's circumstances.
Family GPs, public health nurses and social workers will be consulted to ensure that all decisions are fully informed.
The HSE and the Department of Health are to examine the best way to meet the needs of people with significant medical conditions who do not hold a medical card.
There are currently 72,000 people holding a discretionary medical card.
Of the 25,000 medical card applications this year so far, 17,000 have been given on a discretionary basis.
Because of rising employment, the overall number of medical cards is reducing.
Cautious welcome to plan from IMO
The Chairman of the Irish Medical Organisation has given a cautious welcome to today's announcement.
Dr Ray Walley said the plan emphasises the importance of discretion and that it was an acknowledgement that the Government got it wrong.
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime, Dr Walley said the new measures provide reassurances to GPs.
He said he agrees with the minister that universal and free GP care at the point of delivery is the only solution.
Earlier today, the chief executive of the Irish Patients' Association said the new measures should help bring an end to the controversy surrounding the allocation of medical cards.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Stephen McMahon said the new system will see all those in need of a medical card treated equally and will be more patient-centred rather than just looking at "a set of numbers".
He said that because doctors and social workers are to be included in assessments for patient eligibility, the system should be fairer, but the Government must ensure it is consistent across Ireland.
Mr McMahon said the new measures will give the Government a chance to be more humanitarian in how it deals with patients.
The medical card issue is perhaps the biggest challenge facing Mr Varadkar and the Government "from the point of view that we can't have patients not being able to access care, timely care, for financial reasons", he added.
Last month, Mr Varadkar said the Department of Health wanted to change the current system of discretionary medical cards, to introduce the concept of medical hardship.
He proposed this for cases where there is a sick child and their illness has an impact on the family, and for an individual where their illness has a big impact on them.
