Payment for prescriptions

How would it be decided who is "poor"? We all know that there are people who are a few pounds over the threshold for any state benefits and this would exacerbate the problem.
Which is what I have been saying for years on here, and you have always countered it by saying that means-testing was my 'hobby-horse' and that defending pensioners didn't take account of the fact that working people were also poor. What has changed?

It would seem fair enough for those with money and those on pension credit would still get it free but it’s those just over the line that would suffer
More Tory stealth at privatising our NHS

But don’t get any have higher pensions ?

Introducing charges here and there will be wasteful and probably cost more to collect. All very well for countries that have such systems but this is the UK.

How many BILLIONS were wasted on the failed IT system which never materialised? I can't find any reliable figure but it was said to be TEN BILLION POUNDS, wasted, down the drain, gone!

No heads rolled.

It's just the kind of mean thing the Tories might do. Means testing would imply a whole lot of expensive officials to carry it out (or the Tories would contract it out to their friends) thus adding to costs and there would be lots of marginal cases needing an appeals apparatus, also at cost. We've seen what happens when private companies assess people for disability benefits. This idea is tinkering. The NHS should remain free at delivery.

kittylester

The NHS can't carry on as it is. We have pay for it somehow.

What is your solution?

How much would actually be saved, when admin costs are factored in? How long would it be before the charges would go up because the charges don't cover the costs?

How many hospital stays take place in a year? How about multiplying the number of night stays x £8 and then adding a little extra to everybody's tax? The systems are already in place for tax and wouldn't involve extra admin.

How would it be decided who is "poor"? We all know that there are people who are a few pounds over the threshold for any state benefits and this would exacerbate the problem.

not sure i would want to pay for some of the food in hospitals, but if the extra money meant better food then it might be worth it.

I believe prescriptions are free in Wales and Scotland. I don't know about Northern Ireland.
So if we go with this suggestion does it mean that only those in England pay.

Baggytrazzas

?

If you have a State pension and in Hospital for more that 4 weeks you are supposed to declare it, as you not "entitled" to it.

Incorrect.

"Like a workplace pension, the State Pension isn’t affected by your state of health and should continue to pay out if you’re in hospital."

"However, the government does ask hospital patients receiving a State Pension to get in touch with the Pension Service helpline to clarify their benefit entitlements."

www.pensionbee.com/pensions-explained/pension-rules/what-happens-to-your-pension-when-in-hospital

It's an ongoing mystery to me that people make definitive statements about things when 2 minutes of googling would prove the statements inaccurate.

volver

There two kinds of people in the world.

Those that think the NHS should free at the point of use and that funding should be from the public purse whether you are the Queen or the person who cleans her toilets.

And those that think money is the answer to everything and people should be sanctioned for missing appointments, and that the cost of collecting £4 a day from an as-yet-undefined proportion of hospital residents is in any way a valid response, when what is actually required is an overhaul of the NHS.

Move to Scotland. Prescriptions free at point of need.

No, please don't all move to Scotland for free prescriptions, lots of you would just start complaining about the weather and you would be shocked by the heating bills. If you'd like the Scottish model for free prescriptions then campaign to get it in your area.

volver, I agree with every word in your post apart from the last line!

If you have a State pension and in Hospital for more that 4 weeks you are supposed to declare it, as you not "entitled" to it. How many do that?
I don't have a state pension yet, but I didn't know you were supposed to declare it if you are in hospital. Probably a lot of people are also unaware of that. I suppose there is a certain logic in that the State is 'keeping you' when you are in hospital; but how do people pay the rent or other commitments if their income is stopped - outgoings are not restricted to food and/or other things that would be covered in a hospital stay.

Lots to consider here.
I think Nominal fee to see GP.. So many time wasters. Plus for failed appointments, including Out patients in Hospital.
After so many days in Hospital, set fee means tested. If you have a State pension and in Hospital for more that 4 weeks you are supposed to declare it, as you not "entitled" to it. How many do that?

Prescription charges for under those working or Retirement age, with exceptions for long term conditions, children.

However how much will it cost to recover that money for individuals?
Will it be worth it?

I think prescription charges should be means tested or raise the age that they are free to over 66, pension age.

There two kinds of people in the world.

Those that think the NHS should free at the point of use and that funding should be from the public purse whether you are the Queen or the person who cleans her toilets.

And those that think money is the answer to everything and people should be sanctioned for missing appointments, and that the cost of collecting £4 a day from an as-yet-undefined proportion of hospital residents is in any way a valid response, when what is actually required is an overhaul of the NHS.

Move to Scotland. Prescriptions free at point of need.

Prescription charges were abolished in Scotland years ago. I believe part of the justification was to save money.
The charges didn’t cover the cost of the vast majority of medicines and the cost of the means testing far exceeds the money collected.
It’s the argument I used to have with my mum when the tabloids lead with the “super rich” getting winter fuel payments. Every year she’d get wound up about how this was “stolen out her pocket”. She would willingly have spent millions to save thousands so a mythical “they” wouldn’t get something.
This looks like blaming the end consumer for problems much further up the chain.
Like global warming is because I ( insert latest here, eg don’t rinse tins properly) not because of business decisions made by global corporations.

My Dad, a GP, always felt that there should be a small charge for appointments. Really just to reduce the numbers of failed appointments. People with long term conditions need not pay. I used to be appalled at the number of DNAs at GP surgeries when I used to have to book clinics there.
Changed days now of course when you have to beg and plead for an appointment.
We are reaping the whirlwind of reduced places on nursing courses and prioritising lucrative foreign students on medical courses.

Aveline

Seems reasonable to me. As long as it's means tested.

I won't disappoint by not getting on my 'hobby horse' and saying that those who have paid NI for decades and also have saved towards having so-called 'means' in older age should not have to also pay for prescriptions that we expected to be free when we chose to retire.

Pregnant women or women with babies don't pay, so all the pregnant Mumsnetters who say that both they and their husbands each earn over £100k in their 30s would be exempt, but an older couple who have worked as teachers or nurses for decades would have to pay.

Presumably means-tests would apply to household income as usual, so those with two earners would be less likely to qualify, whilst those where one partner had stayed at home would get them free, despite not having contributed two lots of NI.

People with some conditions (eg thyroid disease) don't pay, but those with eg asthma (a life-threatening condition) do - the rationale there is flawed too, as this applies regardless of income.

Why single out over 60s? Far better to means-test income with a progressive tax system, so that everyone pays out of what they earn (and overhaul the system so that profits made for simply having money are counted as income). This would include many pensioners too, but would not penalise people simply for working, contributing and saving towards occupational pensions.

Too many people resent older people having even a little bit of disposable income, even when they themselves are paying a mortgage and saving what they can, presumably with a view to having a rent-free retirement with enough left over to go out for coffee with friends now and again when it's their turn. As ever with means-testing the rich will be ok, the poor will get free prescriptions and it will be the ones 'in the middle' who get hit.

Millie22

Not again ☹

Not everyone is a wealthy pensioner and can afford over £100 for a yearly charge. People will not get essential medicine or have to choose which to have if they have more than one prescription.

Not all pensioners just the ones who can afford it.

I don't see why means testing is such a thing. Surely, people in receipt of certain benefits would qualify.

It will no longer be the NHS as Bevin set it up - free for all at the point of delivery. Perhaps this is an ethos we have to ditch as population grows and medical technology brings new expensive treatment for more conditions.

That does not, however, apply to food. Most people are either earning or on pension or benefits. Since you still receive the benefits whilst in hospital with no food to buy it is not unreasonable to make a payment but the cost of such a system may mean no savings. Additionally where hospital food is bad, and in some cases it is, people will object to paying on those grounds. Perhaps there could be a voluntary system whereby you pay what you think it’s worth.

I have said for years we should pay something towards our food in hospitals ... as at home we eat & saving when we go into hospital ... even if collected on a voluntary basis , even if only £2-£3 a day ... as long as it went towards the food or nhs itself ... not like a lot of the parking where it doesn't, also could save on heating as much too hot ! Obviously if people couldn't afford to pay , there are exceptions

Not again ☹

Not everyone is a wealthy pensioner and can afford over £100 for a yearly charge. People will not get essential medicine or have to choose which to have if they have more than one prescription.

I think in Germany one continues to pay health taxes in retirement. As the elderly eat up the largest chunk of NHS funds, I do not see why we stop paying, the rates paid are variable according to income. With young people starting their working life at a later age, there is less time for them to contribute to funds.

Well, (re What is your solution?), I've already suggested raising the eligibility age in line with the age of retirement.

Higher and fairer taxes (not just income tax) should have been introduced years ago. It is up to those who habitually vote Conservative to explain why they do so knowing and seeing the consequences for public services. Why do they do it?

Consequence of this proposal: none to speak of for the better off, more worry for the just-about-managing, leading, to people not taking their meds regularly. Where does that get us?