Pensionalble Age?

Sel / Ariadne forgive the delay, just got to this post. In answer to the questions I was in fact a Saturation Diver and finally Saturation Superintendent for my sins. Now long retired from the industry and was looking forward to a final retirement, from all work, in the sun from April 2014. I am 65 this September. Sadly all plans are now upside down but I need to wrest control back and put the life back on track albeit as a single person now. Time and patience will tell me if I can.
As for prescriptions / pensions, I can see the age when free prescriptions kick in (60) being increased in time to fall in line with future retirement ages which will probably top out at 72 for men and women. Sorry to sound negative on that but I think the writing is on the wall as successive governments have underfunded and even raided pension funds in one form or another now leaving a great black hole.
Anyway it's bed time as the Zopiclone is kicking in so sleep tight all.

Thanks to all who responded, it would still be nice to get my pension at the same time as the government decided we didnt have to pay for our prescriptions!!!

I'm open to correction on this, but I seem to remember that when prescription charges were first imposed, the prescription as a whole was subject to charge, whereas for many years the charge has been per item - £7.85 from this month). I worked out that, if I didn't receive free prescriptions, mine could cost around £100 per month, although of course there's the prescription pre-payment certificate which costs £104, a huge saving for a year's unlimited prescriptions, though a big one-off outlay for many people.

kittylester Sorry. It's been a long day. Yes I think I stand corrected but I think she was responsible for the way the costs walloped up.

I think PS told us. I think he was/is a diver. Nice to see him posting, isn't it.

I would like to point out that prescriptions and dental treatment were not free pre-Thatcher.

bluebell this is what I said:

"I disagree absent if you need NHS treatment it is free if you cannot afford it. I read that a huge number of people don't pay for anything. That is how I interpret need in this sense. The alternative would be to say you were not prepared to pay the very low NHS dental fees (compared to private) in which case you wouldn't really need it.

Now where do you think I expressed an opinion?

I'd like to know too, please!

Am I alone in wondering what ps did for a living, given a retirement age of 40. Hmmmm, body or brain dependent? Come on ps - a clue please

Fine line between asking and demanding.
Me too, I also, off

Orca what's wrong with asking for clarification? It's a really important point that Moved has made - I just don't understand how widely she means to apply it?

I agree with moved.
But I'm for bed !
Night all!

Very aggressive assertive questioning Bluebell…???

Movedalot - I often have a problem understanding your reasoning or what you are trying to say - are you saying that prescriptions should or should not be free? Or are you just talking about dental care? Or do you also mean that if you can afford it, you should pay for health care generally?

I certainly agree that the NHS is, in many ways, excellent. Twice my life has been saved by superb surgeons and I am profoundly grateful to them and to all the staff who cared for me. (I can hear voices whispering "third time lucky" as I type. ) I am, however, deeply concerned about the changes that are being forced through at such a pace. I also have little confidence in the current health minister.

Whatever you may think of my definitions absent you would surely agree that most of the NHS is free and that our system is much better than the alternatives?

Movedalot Prescriptions and dental treatment were free at the point of delivery pre-Thatcher. The NHS is still erroneously described by David Cameron, Jeremy Hunt and friends, as it was by members of the previous government, as free at the point of delivery not that some aspects are free at the point of delivery only to those who cannot afford to pay for them. It is perfectly possible to be unable to afford essential medication or dentistry without qualifying for exemption. You have a very idiosyncratic definition of "need" and, indeed, of "free".

I disagree absent if you need NHS treatment it is free if you cannot afford it. I read that a huge number of people don't pay for anything. That is how I interpret need in this sense. The alternative would be to say you were not prepared to pay the very low NHS dental fees (compared to private) in which case you wouldn't really need it.

Movedalot Where do you get free dental treatment when you need it? Not everyone gets their medication free either. The NHS is not free at the point of need – only at some of those points.

The normal retirement age was 60 where I worked.
When they wanted to let some staff go they looked at over 50's first and paid them an immediate pension and redundancy.
If for example you had worked for the company for 30 years you got half your final salary.
I don't think anybody worked there till they were 60.
The pensions officer said the optimum point for most people to be made redundant was at just over 57 as you got the full redundancy and immediate pension.
When I was made redundant I got another job and was pensioned off again 5 years later.
I suppose the company was operating a policy of age discrimination but nobody complained as the pay offs were good along with the immediate pension.
I must admit when I was shown my figures I could not get out of the office fast enough.

Frank

.

The party to which I used to belong (before it went into league with the devil) once had a sensible policy for a 'flexible decade of retirement' between 60 and 70'. I could see that there would be people in certain occupations who would want to retire by 60. If I'd remained as a school teacher, I might not have made it that far! As I worked in FE, I was quite happy to go on to 65 but 'they' made my job redundant 18 months before I was 60.

ps

Pensionable age is 60, the age when pension credit can be paid to someone on benefits assuming I understand it correctly. State pension age is 65 gradually being increased to align with life expectancy and funds available, some occupations are permitted to retire before that; my pensionable age was 40, I believe prison officers and policemen may be 55. I stand to be corrected but Racing car drivers may be 36. None of this is related to State pension age purely occupational pension age as agreed between respective industries and HMRC. They obviously didn't expect those in my line of work to live too long did they but I survived and am now 64. I intend to live long enough to be a nuicance to my kids. They say I achieved that goal a long time ago!

The NHS is free at the point of need.

A really good example is cystic fibrosis - it was never put on the exempt list because the children ( who had free prescriptions) didn't survive into adulthood - now they do and have to pay for their prescriptions in England