Prescription charges for the over sixties

I agree with you MOnica about the word "average". It has to be one of the most manipulated and misunderstood words in the English language.

In any case, the document you linked gave information for quintiles, so it's possible to see the statistics for different segments of the population.

The median is the middle value where half the sample group are higher than it and half lower. I know the median and mean averages well, but am dredging up memories of mode averages from O level Maths, which was longer ago than I care to remember ?.

Thinking about it, I see what you mean about mode average potentially having several equal 'scores', though, so yes - the median would be more accurate, but even then, it wouldn't necessarily show where most people actually sit, which is why a lot of statements about how 'boomers' are so well off are meaningless.

Hellsbelles

I am 60 and a carer for my husband who is the same age, he is unable to work , likewise myself as I have to care for him. We are in the lucky position of having paid off our mortgage ( basically by going without foreign holidays , new cars etc when we were working ) He gets basic PIP , and ESA and I carers allowance. That is it as we do have over the threshold in savings . We live off what we receive . One of the plus points of reaching 60 was free prescriptions . I already feel robbed of not getting a bus pass / pension until I'm 67

And you’ll feel even more robbed when you get your state pension as your Carer’s Allowance will be removed at the same time. ☹️

I know the Carer’s Allowance is removed once a person claims their State Pension, but does anyone know why? What’s the reasoning behind that?

The reason maddyone is that they are considered overlapping benefits. Carers Allowance is for people of working age who cannot work because they are carers and is meant, to a limited extent to replace the money they could have earned if they were not caring. Once you reach state retirement age, you receive your pension because you are no longer of working age, so the pension provides you with an income, regardless of whether you are working or not, so you will no longer qualify for a benefit that is there to compensate people expected to work who cannot.

I see the logic, but a more compassionate way of looking at it would be that the carer’s allowance should be there to compensate for the retirement a career expected but cannot have.

Thank you Monica. I agree with you Doodledog. It seems that a person who continues to care for someone else is still expected to do that, but once on a pension, and probably losing much of their retirement due to caring responsibilities, gets no financial benefit at all. Meanwhile I know of at least one person who claimed the Carer’s Allowance whilst still working part time, and once on a pension, passed over the claim for the allowance to her husband, who was not on a pension.
I care for my elderly mum but have never even tried to claim any allowance, because with our help and support, and one care visit a day, she manages with our daily visits and our support with all her ‘affairs’ which she couldn’t manage on her own. She’s currently in hospital after her third fall in the last six months, and will be going into an NHS care home for convalescence when she leaves hospital. She will finally leave there and return to her sheltered apartment. Nonetheless the care we provide takes up a great deal of our time, and has to be passed to our son and his wife when/if we go on holiday. I don’t want to be paid for caring for my mum, but some people may just be on a State Pension with no other income, and yet be unable to claim the Carer’s Allowance.

The logic of it is questionable. For most people the Carers Allowance is only a a fraction (and a very small one) of what they would earn if they could work.

Since it is a mere token payment, there is very little reason for not continuing to pay it after retirement.

However, the Pension Credit level for households where someone is receiving a disability benefit is raised, so poorer pensioner households can recoup the carers allowance through thaty means. If you lose your Carers Allowance through receiving State Pension, it i only the money you lose not the entitlement other easpects of it and I think if someone is a Carer, whether on pension or not, pension credit is increased

I quote from the government site

If someone gets Attendance Allowance or the middle or highest rate care component of DLA, PIP or AFIP, they may be entitled to extra Pension Credit of £67.30

If someone gets Carer’s Allowance they may be entitled to extra Pension Credit of £37.70. They may also get this extra Pension Credit if they are entitled to Carer’s Allowance but they are not being paid it, or being paid it at a lower amount than normal, because they are being paid a higher amount by another, income-maintenance benefit such as State Pension (this is called underlying entitlement).
Extra Pension Credit for severely disabled people or carers
www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit/pension-credit-and-help-for-disabled-people

As I understand it, if your post retirement income is low what you lose on the swings, you more than win on the roundabouts

Some of us may be taking thyroxine. If so, prescriptions are free ("the silver lining" as my funny GP commented). Maybe other conditions which offer passported free prescriptions?

When my GP told me I had an underactive thyroid he said, "The good news is you will never have to pay for a prescription again, the bad news is you are on medication for the rest of your life." Bit like a spoonful of sugar helping the medicine go down.

those taking thyroxine, did you notice an improvement in your energy levels once taking it
i mean what are the pros and cons for someone whose natural levels are borderline.

I've been taking thyroxine for many years so hard to remember now but looking back it made a tremendous difference. I had got to the stage where I had to recline the car seat and rest after a day at work before I could drive home (15 minute journey) so just feeling normal at the end of the day, drive home and have the energy to do things with the children, cook a meal etc was a revelation.

I think the reasoning behind over 60's not paying may have been that they are (were) the age group where things start breaking down and needing more attention (and drugs) from GP's etc, just at the time when they no longer have a salary, and, of course they would have paid into the NI system for all their working lives, and if really lucky, may not have needed much in the way of healthcare ... until they get older!