Family doctors have agreed to treat all over-70s for free.
After a meeting that lasted into the evening the Irish Medical Organisation's GP committee reached agreement with the Health Service Employers' Agency (HSEA).
"Pending the outcome of a ballot all patients over 70 years will be eligible for family doctor treatment free at the point of service from the first of July," Dr James O'Reilly Chair of the IMO GP committee said after the meeting.
The IMO say the will be recommending acceptance of the new proposals in a ballot of all GPs which will take place around the middle of next month.
Details of the new proposals have not yet emerged, but the sticking point was that GPs wanted to be paid under the medical card scheme whereas the HSEA wanted to make an annual payment instead. An offer of £10 million hadalready been rejected by doctors.
Doctors have opposed the scheme since its inception in the last budget. They describe it as unjust because it ignores people in lower-income groups.