Change free prescriptions to state pension age?

At present people with a chronic condition are in receipt of free prescriptions, whatever their age.
My thirty five year old daughter has insulin, needles etc all on the NHS ( thank you Nye Bevan), at considerable cost I'm sure.
As was pointed out earlier in the thread, this keeps her well, so she works and pays tax.
I would have been happy to pay for medication before my State Pension age.

You have to laugh at the mentality of some on here ,its fine to take away medication from older folk who may not be able to afford to pay for it but no one complains about the King getting £45 MILLION a year RISE plus all his profits from the sale of licenses for the seabed.couldn't make it up!! Honestly I sometimes think people are their own worst enemy...happy to pay hundreds of millions for the upkeep of ONE family who wouldn't know a hard days work if they tripped over it but grudging folk on low incomes drugs that might JUST make life more manageable ...are they supposed to now add ,can we afford medication to the can we choose to heat or eat problem they already have? Call this a CIVILISED country? Not in my book its not.

Yes, I think prescriptions should be paid for if under state pension age.

I heard a woman asking in the pharmacy this morning if paracetamol had been included in her big bag of medications. Apparently not, she tutted and was going to go back to the surgery to see why not.

Pensioner or not, paracetamol should not be provided on prescription surely. It costs pence at the supermarket.

Visgir1

Agree.. If you are under pension age you need to pay for prescriptions. If you clinically fall into the category of free ones, they will be provided free.
A yearly prescription season ticket is worth buying, more should used this service.

I am still surprised it's free for anyone over 60's.
Means testings? How many Civil servants will that take? Can't see that working.

It’s already done, everything is computerized, they already know, just like WFA no extra work needs to be done.

AGA was your DH not eligible for AA? We didn’t claim it when DH was terminally ill, nor did I claim Carer’s Allowance as I’d been refused that when caring for DD2 after a stroke! I vowed never to try to claim anything again - it was a nightmare.

I could get behind paying for them until retirement age, but never means-testing health.

How would that work? Someone who's worked all their life being unable to afford medicine that is free to someone who hasn't? A bullying husband (or wife, parent, child) refusing to pay for another member of the household who can't get them free as the household income exceeds the cut-off? Someone on more than one prescription having to decide which one to cash in based on cost? People putting off going to the doctor because they know they can't afford whatever they'll be prescribed?

Put more on tax by all means, so that everyone gets free (or cheap) prescriptions. Cut the number of things that can be prescribed, so people pay for OTC medicines. Consider a set fee regardless of number of items. There are various ways to cut costs, but never means-test life-saving drugs.

Doodledog

I could get behind paying for them until retirement age, but never means-testing health.

How would that work? Someone who's worked all their life being unable to afford medicine that is free to someone who hasn't? A bullying husband (or wife, parent, child) refusing to pay for another member of the household who can't get them free as the household income exceeds the cut-off? Someone on more than one prescription having to decide which one to cash in based on cost? People putting off going to the doctor because they know they can't afford whatever they'll be prescribed?

Put more on tax by all means, so that everyone gets free (or cheap) prescriptions. Cut the number of things that can be prescribed, so people pay for OTC medicines. Consider a set fee regardless of number of items. There are various ways to cut costs, but never means-test life-saving drugs.

Exactly correct.

--- I must admit "this" seems more concise.

Calendargirl

Yes, I think prescriptions should be paid for if under state pension age.

I heard a woman asking in the pharmacy this morning if paracetamol had been included in her big bag of medications. Apparently not, she tutted and was going to go back to the surgery to see why not.

Pensioner or not, paracetamol should not be provided on prescription surely. It costs pence at the supermarket.

The problem with that is this.

Some patients are prescribed paracetamol for regular and long-term use, usually for chronic, painful conditions.

There is a limit to the number of paracetamol tablets you can actually buy in one purchase. I think it might be 32 tablets.

If someone is taking them 3 or 4 times per day, that would mean that the patient has to shop for them every 5/6 days - or they have to traverse from one chemist to another to buy sufficient tablets, and not let-on to each pharmacy that they already have the legal limit of paracetamol.

Not something people in chronic pain probably want to do.

So doctors will prescribe this medication for that reason.

And I don't think those in constant pain with chronic conditions should be penalised financially - especially if, like me, paracetamol is an alternative to the far more expensive opiate drugs which I'd managed to wean myself from.

Doodledog

I could get behind paying for them until retirement age, but never means-testing health.

How would that work? Someone who's worked all their life being unable to afford medicine that is free to someone who hasn't? A bullying husband (or wife, parent, child) refusing to pay for another member of the household who can't get them free as the household income exceeds the cut-off? Someone on more than one prescription having to decide which one to cash in based on cost? People putting off going to the doctor because they know they can't afford whatever they'll be prescribed?

Put more on tax by all means, so that everyone gets free (or cheap) prescriptions. Cut the number of things that can be prescribed, so people pay for OTC medicines. Consider a set fee regardless of number of items. There are various ways to cut costs, but never means-test life-saving drugs.

Well said Doodledog.

I'd also add that there should be a 'ceiling' to the payments, otherwise very sick people with chronic conditions will be penalised.

... or maybe a set fee, as you suggest.

In Norway, everyone pays both to see a doctor, and for some prescriptions - but, there is a limit to the amount they pay. After that limit is reached, they are re-ibursed.

However, it should be noted that most Norwegians are on good wages - unlike here.

Georgesgran

AGA was your DH not eligible for AA? We didn’t claim it when DH was terminally ill, nor did I claim Carer’s Allowance as I’d been refused that when caring for DD2 after a stroke! I vowed never to try to claim anything again - it was a nightmare.

We didn't know about AA and nobody mentioned it until a week before he died. He was in the hospice by then. He was diagnosed as terminal 18 months before so we didn't get that benefit for all that time.

I have often wondered why prescriptions are free as soon as a person turns 60. A lot of people are still working at 60 so could afford to pay. I couldn’t get a bus pass until I reached state pension age. The same should have applied with prescriptions.

Working doesn't necessarily equate to being able to afford things these days.

MissAdventure

Working doesn't necessarily equate to being able to afford things these days.

No, and those sorts of assumptions are another reason why means-testing is iniquitous. Tax depending on means, with benefits universal. Who gets to decide at what stage someone needs free drugs and who should pay?

Perhaps people on disability benefits should get free prescriptions, but of course, one person could be on two meds, and another on twenty two.
So, a means test to check how many meds someone has?

It's unworkable.

MissAdventure

Working doesn't necessarily equate to being able to afford things these days.

It certainly doesn't.
My DH was made redundant at 59. Trying to get another job at that age was an eye-opener and those available were minimum wage. Then ill health. Leave free prescriptions for 60 + alone.

MissAdventure

Perhaps people on disability benefits should get free prescriptions, but of course, one person could be on two meds, and another on twenty two.
So, a means test to check how many meds someone has?

It's unworkable.

It would be wrong to means test drugs IMO. Tax should be high enough to cover them. I can see that there will be the euphemistically named 'tough decisions' when it comes to which drugs can be prescribed, but whatever is available should be available to all.

I don't agree at all with potentially taking away anyone's meds, and I think it's devisive, however it would be done. (Which it won't be, I'm sure)

No, nor do I, but am thinking of things like iron tablets which can be bought OTC, or possibly fertility treatment, or acne creams. It's really difficult to suggest things that should possibly go on a restricted list, as of course it will hurt some patients, which I wouldn't want to see either, but set against life-saving treatments I can see how cuts to those things could be argued for.

But why should we the general tax paying public be denied this benefit? I'm sure for many people they are a life saver.

Why when there are so many other places that the public purse is mis-spent.

Maybe cut the incredible pensions that MPs enjoy once they are no longer in office. You can be sure they won't need a winter allowance.

Stop sending our money abroad.

It's too easy to rob the British tax payer instead of really looking to see how the portfolio of the UK should be managed.

So, meds for people with something like, say, copd.
Should they be charged for people who still smoke?

Obese people, with associated problems... the list is endless.

Should they get free prescriptions?

Sadly cigarettes are legally available to any adult that wants them. And the treasury must rake in a fair sum on taxes on tobacco.

If the state isn't prepared to ban them then I think it will have to pay for the consequences. Do you remember when smokers could get nicotine patches on the NHS. Maybe they still can.

How far do you go to determining who is eligible and for what reason? It's a tricky one.

There is a medical exemption certificate available (regardless of age and income) for those with some medical conditions:

www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/check-if-you-have-nhs-exemption/medical-exemption-certificates

GrannyGravy13

No, I agree with MissAdventure

I agree too. Some people would do without meds. Leave it as it is.

My meds would cost nearly half of my weekly earnings !

Dickens

Yes, I see what you mean about paracetamol.

How many do GP’s prescribe for people suffering chronic pain? If it is many more than the 32 limit you can buy in one go, it just seems pointless having a limit in the first place.

I know it’s because it is dangerous to take too many, but still seems pointless.