Prescription Charges

Thank you, I certainly will.

Thankyou, I will look too.

I must admit I was surprised when my husband did not have to pay for his regular prescription at 60 he wasn't in receipt of his pension or retired so was amazed when it was suddenly free

In Scotland prescriptions are free for all ages.

I think it’s still free for 60 and up, but government may be considering changing it to fit in with the retirement age.

In Wales prescriptions are free for all. I do believe that those that can pay should pay something. I now live in England and use a prescription prepayment for just over £10 per month. My monthly medication would normally be over £25.

I have tried to get this message around as some believe that as they are in receipt of free prescriptions at 60 this will continue. Not true. The government is only considering this as one option. The most likely is to charge all those over 60 to 66 for medication. Please complete the consultation. The bus pass at 60 has already been lost, now this what next?

There is an online survey you can complete, I did it when this issue was posted on Gransnet a few weeks ago.

Would they do this as a blanket thing? Or just when new people reach 60 years?

I say this everytime we have a thread on prescription charges. Free prescriptions for all, over whatever age, is a ridiculous concept. Lots, not all, but lots of over 60s can afford to pay for their own prescriptions.

We can and would happily do so. There are people much worse off than us, of whatever age, who can't.

Now the pension age has altered, it’s fairly obvious that over time, all the benefits will be reserved for those actually in receipt of their pension. Harsh, but true.

Bus passes were one. At my local leisure centre, over 60’s used to get a discounted price, but now you have to be a state pensioner to qualify.

I often wonder what the English government spend the money on, I mean the money that the Scottish and Welsh governments use to provide free prescriptions. Clearly the devolved governments have less to spend in other areas so it would be interesting to see the benefits to the English taxpayer of having to pay for prescriptions.

All these benefits from 60 were brought in when the retirement age (for women) was 60.

I can see no reason why the age they become available should not rise with the retirement age.

I agree KittyLester

I buy an annual prepayment certificate, it costs £100.

kittylester

I say this everytime we have a thread on prescription charges. Free prescriptions for all, over whatever age, is a ridiculous concept. Lots, not all, but lots of over 60s can afford to pay for their own prescriptions.

We can and would happily do so. There are people much worse off than us, of whatever age, who can't.

And I say this every time we have a prescriptions charge thread.

If you need a prescription, it is necessary healthcare and should be free at the point of use, just like the rest of our healthcare. Just because a prescription drug is tangible, that doesn't mean you have to pay for that and not for a surgery appointment, for instance. Where do you draw the line?

Free prescriptions are a sign of an equal society and nobody should pay for them. And yes, I would pay more tax for it. I do, I live in Scotland

M0nica

All these benefits from 60 were brought in when the retirement age (for women) was 60.

I can see no reason why the age they become available should not rise with the retirement age.

The trouble with that is that a lot of people who expected to retire at 60 are already living lives that are far from how they'd planned. Then there are those who decided not to wait until 66, but to leave work when their husbands do, or because of their health, and based their decisions to do so on the expectation of getting free prescriptions.

Those who say that 'some people can afford it' - what do you suggest that these people should give up in order to pay for the things that you have decided that they can afford?

And is it any coincidence that prescriptions doubled in the over 60s ten years ago when the retirement age changed? A lot of these people are now on 4 or 5 medications

I am on 7 different medications and could get them all for a out £100 pa.

It seems disingenuous to me to expect the nhs to remain the same, with everything free, as it costs so much more to run and people are living longer because of advances in treatment.

Surely, if I buy a prescription passport i am, in effect, paying more tax.

kittylester

I am on 7 different medications and could get them all for a out £100 pa.

It seems disingenuous to me to expect the nhs to remain the same, with everything free, as it costs so much more to run and people are living longer because of advances in treatment.

Surely, if I buy a prescription passport i am, in effect, paying more tax.

I paid more tax anyway because I was lucky enough to have a well-paying job. Are we to expect people who are unwell to pay more tax than those who manage to stay healthier?

Isn't it great getting older as all the things we thought we'd get aren't happening. No pension no reduced travel and now having to possibly choose whether you can afford a prescription.

Doodledog but the same thing happened when the retirement age was 60 - and often mandatory, no choice like today.

I have said often and I will repeat. I think all the bells and whistle, free prescriptions, winter fuel allowance, free bus passes, I used to say tv licence, but that has already gone ,should all go.

The Pension Credit limit could then be increased sufficiently to ensure that those now on PC are not out of pocket. Raising the PC limit, say, £30 a week, would then bring many more people into the PC net and those above it, of which I am one can pay for all these things out for themselves.

I have always it considered it demeaning to older people that we are given these carefully ring fenced benefits, as if we could not be trusted to do make our own decisions about how we spend our money.

Also pensioner benefit from these benefits is variable from person. if you do not get regular medication you lose out on free prescriptions. Some people through disability or the absence of buses cannot benefit from free buspasses, and have to rely on taxis or running a car, or a voluntary car service, for which they receive no monetary aid to balance against those using buspasses.

Of course people of our age are able to decide what to spend their money on MOnica , and there would be many who would have plenty of practice if this went ahead , deciding on what they could do without in order to afford their prescriptions!?

Well it’s easy to say the free bus pass should go if you are a family car owner/driver monica without my free bus pass my life would be miserable and no I m not on pension credit because when I left work I but some money in a savings account for when I need care of some kind so that negates me from going onto pension credit although my weekly pension is under the amount I m expected to need to live on
I ve sucked up the other things the dentist prices, the tv licence, I can manage on a low income but do not take my bud pass away it’s my only means of movement for longer walking/cycling trips

Loved your typo BlueBelle , with a name like that you should have a ‘bud pass’ ! I totally agree with you by the way , in that many of the ‘financially comfortable ‘ posters are very quick to say they don’t understand why these easements , I refuse to call them’benefits’ are needed.