Payment for prescriptions

Shandy3

I think it's reasonable, why not, why would we feel 'entitled '? Yes we might have paid taxes but we get a lot in return. I think if people realised the true cost of their medication/healtcare they would feel privileged knowing how much they got in return!

So everybody should pay a bit more tax. Why not?

Shandy3

I think it's reasonable, why not, why would we feel 'entitled '? Yes we might have paid taxes but we get a lot in return. I think if people realised the true cost of their medication/healtcare they would feel privileged knowing how much they got in return!

I know very well how much my medications cost. I also have a fair idea how much all the scans and tests I've had over the last few weeks have cost plus the cost of the op I'm due to have next week and the aftercare. I feel very lucky that I don't live in the US and I don't have to cut corners, but I don't understand how paying for it now (I've paid a fair bit through taxation over the years!) and recognising my "privilege" would make me value it any more. I'm just so relieved that I'm getting excellent treatment and don't have to worry about financing it.

A friend who is an NHS consultant was running a clinic at which several foreign women attended. She asked the hospital management what paperwork was needed to be able to charge them. She was told that there was no facility for charging these patients. The NHS lost several thousand pounds due to health tourism. There is a lot to be said for ID cards to prove ones nationality when accessing NHS treatment

I think it's reasonable, why not, why would we feel 'entitled '? Yes we might have paid taxes but we get a lot in return. I think if people realised the true cost of their medication/healtcare they would feel privileged knowing how much they got in return!

I'm against means testing.
There will be people missing out on medications, I think, if that happens.

I would happily pay for visits to a GP and have thought for years it would be a good idea BUT how could this be made fair to all people ie people on benefits etc. The admin involved to sort this out would be tremendous and likely stop ill people making a visit. I wonder if it was a voluntary charge would anybody pay? It would help if the local surgery could keep the money paid in order to maybe employ more doctors/physios/nurses etc but where would these professionals come from? Seems the NHS is only just surviving and intervention is needed and probably the only fair way is via tax increase which at the moment is something most of us might find difficult.

I agree with you Doodledog. That's why I think all prescriptions should be free - well, they're not free, of course. People pay taxes, which cover the cost of medical care - so why not include prescriptions? Taxation is generally progressive, so those who could afford more would pay more, but everybody (in theory) would receive the same treatment, including prescriptions. We already have taxation systems in place, so there would be no need for extra layers of bureaucracy.

I was in hospital for 3 weeks once. The food was inedible. A couple of times they brought my lunch while I was off having some test or other, so not only was it inedible, it was cold. One time I brandished the most bizarre pizza you've ever seen at a consultant and asked "Would you eat that?" DH was bringing me hot soup in a flask so that I could actually eat something.

If they think they want to charge patients for hospital food they better get their act together.

Not that its a good idea anyway. It's a daft idea.

Health care in the UK has to be more realistically costed, the current system is way out of date. This means a total reorganisation which successive governments have shied away from. Even here in France where we pay more for health care there are increasing problems.

MaggsMcG

Baggytrazzas I agree it should be free for everyone. It is in Wales and Scotland. Its unfair. However if this isn't going to happen then its only fair that if someone is still working they pay, the season ticket isn't too bad. However something else I think should happen is anyone that is already getting it free should continue to do so and it should be advertised extensively that as from 2023 anyone reaching their 60th Birthday will have to pay. I dont think its fair to start to charge people that have already stopped paying.

What about people who aren't working but still get a decent income?

GoldenAge

I'm not against means testing in principle but in practice it's difficult to get it right. For example, what happens to the person who just exceeds the threshold and who then finds she falls foul of the crude means testing in respect of travel passes, prescriptions, social care in the home, GP appointments etc., Certainly we know that no administrative machine capable of recognising and responding to these situations and ensuring that that person isn't worse off than someone way below the threshold, would come cheaply. I believe our NHS should be free to all British citizens but I agree that everybody should pay towards their prescribed medication and that can be done by a pre-payment certificate. There is money within the NHS that is totally gobbled up by layers of incompetent management.

I agree that someone just over the threshold will be a victim of means testing, and that this is wrong; but what about someone well over the threshold who is there because she has worked and paid into the system? Should she have to pay when someone who has not worked does not?

Similarly, even if we could institute a system that would keep someone just above a financial threshold in medication, where is the justice in doing so if it penalises those who have saved towards old age and rewards those who have not?

What about people whose partners earn enough to put the couple out of the 'free' prescription category, but earn little or nothing themselves? These will usually be women, and some will be in relationships where they have to ask for every penny. Should these women have to tell their husband about every prescription, (even if they are for personal complaints) to get the money to pay for them? Should they have to rely on their husbands to dole out money for them if they are victims of financial abuse? What if he refuses to hand it over?

As for pre-pad certificates - these are a way of saving money if there is no choice but to pay for prescriptions, but are only available to those who can afford them, and the above concern about financial abuse applies there, too, as does the point that we have already paid through decades of contributions.

Means testing is a crude measure, and whichever way it is done there will be people who lose out - taxation is much fairer (and the NHS is funded by tax anyway - nobody who pays, or has paid NI up to the age of 60 is getting it free. It's bad enough when what is at stake is a bus pass or a TV licence; but medication is vital - nobody should be in a situation where they cannot pay for life-saving medication for any reason, and none of us know the reasons why other people may be in that situation, however they may seem, on the surface, not to 'need the money'.

I am very much against means testing in principle.

Not against it at all…..paying for food is good idea…..might be worth paying to see a GP as well….perhaps the time wasters would disappear of the scene ….and people actually ill could get an appointment!!

Whitewavemark2

Oh I have just read that dental checkups will now be only once every 2 years for those fortunate enough to have an nhs dentist.

I went to my NHS dentist yesterday and have been given a check up appointment in six months as usual. I did not need any treatment yesterday and my mouth, teeth and gums were very healthy so obviously some NHS dentists are continuing with six monthly checkups.

If I go 15 months without seeing the dentist then I would be removed from the list.

Doodledog

*Means testing doesn’t work, it’s a race to the bottom. Thresholds are set very low and ‘screen out’ people genuinely struggle and who miss the cut off, in some cases by only a pound or two. It’s also expensive to administer and in a lot of cases badly targeted - in the case of pensioners exemption to the yearly charge would almost certainly be tied to those in receipt of pension credit, which would leave others struggling.*
I agree 100%

I agree 100% as well. The expense is something we can well do without. Another problem with means testing is that it puts a perceived stigma, unjustifiably, on those who do qualify for whatever benefit is involved, and so some who need it will not apply.

(I do realise that it was Pammie1 who originally posted what I have quoted, and not Doodledog, who agreed with it like me. )

My husband and I are both in our 60s. He had to give up work due to his condition and I am his carer and also do not work . Up to that time we both worked hard , paid off our mortgage by not having holidays abroad , haven't had a UK holiday either for 12 years. Drive an old car 15 years . Don't drink , don't smoke , don't really socialise much.
During the height of covid was classed as CEV.
He has 7 different tablets to take a day . I've had a few problems , and take 4 .
He gets PIP and I get carers allowance, which comes to about £460 a month . As we have savings that take us over the " allowed " limit , we do not get anything else . Yes we have savings , but as above this is because of going without for many years . So we would miss free prescriptions if they ended .
Ok so I agree that you can buy the prepaid ones but that is still £200 .
What would annoy me , and yes perhaps this statement makes me a bad person is - we know people that bought their own council house , did cash in hand jobs , sold up after a few years , spend the money it made . now get their private rent paid , pays no council tax , gets universal credit , would get free prescriptions if means tested ( has money but hides it from benefit office ) gets all the extra payments , drives cars younger than ours , has holidays and to cap it all of ended up needing to go into a care home , that would be paid for as well .
There we are I've said it.

Baggytrazzas I agree it should be free for everyone. It is in Wales and Scotland. Its unfair. However if this isn't going to happen then its only fair that if someone is still working they pay, the season ticket isn't too bad. However something else I think should happen is anyone that is already getting it free should continue to do so and it should be advertised extensively that as from 2023 anyone reaching their 60th Birthday will have to pay. I dont think its fair to start to charge people that have already stopped paying.

I HAVE JUST READ above ALSO THAT IN SCOTLAND PRESCRIPTIONS ARE FREE. I DIDN'T NOW THIS.

Interesting comment - But myself the age of 64 being female I still DO NOT RECEIVE my weekly state pension - as most of my female friends did get theirs at age of 60 - SO IT HAS GOT TO BE MEANS TESTED.

My daughter who has asthma pays for her medication - WHY as diabetics get for FREE and a few other health issues also do.

Maybe like we all think this person has a good private pension as well as my husband yes gets his weekly government state pension and not a great private one every 3 months, so its a PRETTY BASIC COMMENT FROM HIM NOT TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THE AVERAGE PERSONS INCOME.

AS IF YOU LIVE IN WALES, THEN PRESCRIPTIONS ARE FREE ANYWAY AS MY PARENTS MOVED OVER THERE 40 YEARS AGO BEFORE RETIREMENT AGE, AND KNOWING THE NHS IS STRETTED WITH MYSELF WAITING IN A+E for nearly 6 hours last Wednesday till 3am then after a procedure got discharged - AS THAT IS ANOTHER ISSUE ENTIRELY.

HE SHOULD LIVE IN THE REAL WORLD.

I'm not against means testing in principle but in practice it's difficult to get it right. For example, what happens to the person who just exceeds the threshold and who then finds she falls foul of the crude means testing in respect of travel passes, prescriptions, social care in the home, GP appointments etc., Certainly we know that no administrative machine capable of recognising and responding to these situations and ensuring that that person isn't worse off than someone way below the threshold, would come cheaply. I believe our NHS should be free to all British citizens but I agree that everybody should pay towards their prescribed medication and that can be done by a pre-payment certificate. There is money within the NHS that is totally gobbled up by layers of incompetent management.

I live in Wales and was furious when I finally reached retirement age, having thought that “at last a perk for being old…I’ll get free prescriptions…” but at that point Wales announced it was giving free prescriptions to everyone!!

Not 'Bevin' the Foreign Secretary. It was Bevan the Health Minister who took the lead in setting up the NHS.

And no, the NHS should be paid for out of general taxation and remain free at the point of delivery otherwise we shall have another expensive, means tested shambles like disability benefits.

I’ve always thought free prescriptions and non payment of NI for working over 60s was a hangover from before pensionable age increases. There are several problems with extending payment:
*means testing is expensive to administer-new pension is phasing out Pension Credit so that can’t be the benchmark
* many long term conditions aren’t covered by free provision meaning people will be paying for multiple medications long term
* hospital in patient numbers will rise as those not able or willing to pay experience I’ll health or complications
*Doubtful a Tory government will agree as they’ll fear losing the grey vote
I support the ‘bed and board’ charge but again expensive to administer and what happens to those who can’t or won’t pay. We’ve seen the difficulties in recouping charges from those not entitled to NHS treatment

I have long thought that we should pay towards food if we are in hospital. We have to pay for it when at home don't we. It would be happy to.

Anyone know how the Australian Medicare system works?

They all seem quite happy with it.

Britain is one of the lowest pension rate payment in Europe! It would be difficult for some pensioners to afford to pay for NHS services and Prescriptions etc. It could be means tested, but again at a cost.
As an retired nurse, I can say there is a lot of wastage financially in the NHS. This wastage is caused through bad management, over ordering supplies. Pharmacy costs are extortionate and unopened medicines/drugs that have been prescribed and not used are discarded for burning. They could so easily be recycled, if the packet/ampules, tablets etc. are sealed.
There was a much better outcome when we had Matrons, Nursing Officers etc. running the Hospitals.
I agree advancement in treatments and research is badly needed, but this needs to progress with the right Captain and team at the helm.