Change free prescriptions to state pension age?

I don't think free prescriptions in Wales has improved anything at all, the NHS here is atrocious.

MissAdventure

Well, there is a box to tick to cover why you're exempt.
Have you never filled that part in?

No, because I get my prescriptions online.

When I worked in a pharmacy I'd do it on the person's behalf as it was unnecessary for them to prove anything once they were over 60.

To get medical exemption you need to fill in a form which is signed by your GP. You then get a card to show. I expect that you could not bother with this and pay if you wanted to.

Well, there is a box to tick to cover why you're exempt.
Have you never filled that part in?

MissAdventure

There is nothing to stop people who can manage without free prescriptions from not ticking the box and providing proof they're exempt.
I doubt many people did that, though.

I've never had to tick box or provide proof once I reached 60. Your date of birth is on the prescription which is proof enough.
Would anyone volunteer to pay? I don't think so.

There is nothing to stop people who can manage without free prescriptions from not ticking the box and providing proof they're exempt.
I doubt many people did that, though.

Totally agree with you I worked till
I was 69 so had free prescriptions for 9
Years whilst still earning , it is crazy , combine it with state pension age and the money they will save will be enormous

No way! There are far more easier things to do than cut medication on prescription.

Davisuz

No! I'm 63 and have worked full time for most of my adult life, much of it as a single parent. I work in local government so I'm hardly well off and am struggling with health issues currently. The free prescription is the only concession I get and I'd be furious if this was taken away!

Exactly.
And I presume you retire at 67?

No! I'm 63 and have worked full time for most of my adult life, much of it as a single parent. I work in local government so I'm hardly well off and am struggling with health issues currently. The free prescription is the only concession I get and I'd be furious if this was taken away!

singingnutty

I don't agree that those on a State Pension should pay for prescriptions. I haven't read all the posts on this thread so I don't know what percentage are of this opinion. However, it has been suggested that medication should be less easily prescribed. I agree with that. When I saw a GP with back pain I was prescribed loads of really strong pain-killers which I did not need because he didn't have time to ask me more about what might be causing the pain. That's just one instance of course, but it must be repeated millions of times every year.

Exactly this - imagine having to have 24 surgeries causing loads of different health conditions (24 of them that flare up at different times), and each time you get a new symptom, someone doesn't have the time to sort anything alternative out, they just give you an even stronger of more medications.

This is me ... 6 pages of medications attached to prescriptions. Thank heavens they are free to me!

Some of my working friends have to wait until payday to get their prescriptions, despite earning decent wages.

Dickens

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.

There's no way that many people would be able to do that, I certainly couldn't pay up front and claim it back! I struggle having to do it for the vets, I have to borrow the excess as it is!

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.

If you are on disability benefit and claiming ESA or Income Support then they are free. Tick box H!

Also some on UC & Tax Credits seem to be free if income based. Have just looked at the back of one of my 6 pages of prescription sheets!

Elegran

The "season ticket" for prescriptions is certainly worth having, at £114.50 for a year if you needor £32.05 for three months.

" There are 3 PPC options:

a 3-month PPC costs £32.05 and will save you money if you need more than 3 prescribed items in 3 months
a 12-month PPC costs £114.50 and will save you money if you need more than 11 prescribed items in a year
a hormone replacement therapy (HRT) PPC costs £19.80 and will save you money if you need more than 2 prescribed qualifying HRT items in a year

A PPC for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) covers an unlimited number of some HRT medicines for 12 months, including if they’re prescribed for something other than menopause symptoms."

- but it does mean paying out £114.50 or £32.05 in one go. If you are on a tight budget that feels like a lot all at once! There doesn't seem to be a rate for a monthly payment.

www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/prescriptions/save-money-with-a-prescription-prepayment-certificate-ppc/

Umm there used to be as my daughter paid it monthly, shame if they've stopped it ...

I don't agree that those on a State Pension should pay for prescriptions. I haven't read all the posts on this thread so I don't know what percentage are of this opinion. However, it has been suggested that medication should be less easily prescribed. I agree with that. When I saw a GP with back pain I was prescribed loads of really strong pain-killers which I did not need because he didn't have time to ask me more about what might be causing the pain. That's just one instance of course, but it must be repeated millions of times every year.

David49

Dickens

David49

I would make them means tested just like WFA. I can’t support well off pensioners getting free medicine. Maybe an annual exemption but a lot higher than currently

What constitutes a "well-off" pensioner?

... and who decides that yardstick?

Compared to someone living on a low income - virtually living hand-to-mouth - I am well-off.

My pensioner neighbour living across the road in the 5-bedroom "The Old Vicarage" thinks I am almost impoverished.

Same level as WFA, Pension Credit will be reviewed from year to year according to living costs.

NO!

It ought to have been done by income, not Pension Credit. My mum is a few quid over the threshold and she is going to suffer. She's on around £22k, energy will be around £550 this winter for her to be consistently warm, and she has a Service Charge of over £5k per year which will be going up!

Sasta

NHS prescriptions are free in Scotland and Wales. How would it work for them? It’s pretty unfair that one group within the UK pay whatever age is decided, given we all pay taxes. I know they have separate governing bodies etc, but it’s still not fair. Don’t get me started on Uni fees. And I’m not looking for handouts, I just think fairness should matter, however naive.

I think you too should read Granny23's post above, where she says that "When free prescriptions for all were introduced in Scotland, it was discovered that the change was cost neutral as there was no longer a need to fund a whole organisation to check eligibility, issue and monitor season tickets etc."

The unfairness you speak of could be made fair to you too, if politicians in Westminster did the same sums as those in Scotland and came to the same conclusion - that prescriptions are a part of the health care that is supposedly free under the NHS, and that it costs as much to administer who does and who doesn't pay as to prescribe free for everyone. After all, the bulk of the cost is for the medications themselves.

annodomini

I was surprised when - still under 60 - I was able to have free prescriptions because I'd been prescribed Thyroxin. What is even more amazing is that one of my sons, still well under 60, who also has hypothyroidism, now has free prescriptions.

It is an exempt disease, along with Diabetes, and having a Colostomy or Ileostomy, thank God!

I'm exempt on 2 counts. My medications would cost over £500 a month if I were to pay for them, I once added it up, & I'm on far more now. Would have helped me more if someone had looked at me holistically and offer something else rather than new symptom = new medication. I now take 29 at night + a strong analgesic patch. Big Pharma are making a mint from me sadly.

It's the idea of the OP though - not a suggestion from the government.

No I don’t agree. We have already been robbed of our pension which we should have had at 60, but have to wait till 66 what a diabolical idea

GrannyGravy13

Monica £2 a week for some pensioners is a vast sum, particularly those who are above the pension credit threshold by a few pennies (and yes it is that fine )

Certainly is, my mum at 88 is just above the eligibility threshold and hasn't yet paid off last winter's fuel bill! Costs about £500 a month for her to be truly warm, more now!

When people want to work at home they are reminded of how detrimental that would be to the owners of coffee shops.

When people want life-enhancing drugs they are told that the cost of a cup of coffee would pay for them.

Meanwhile, Starbucks paid £7.2m in UK corporation tax last year despite making a gross profit of £149m on sales of £548m in Britain.

Its UK division, which has faced years of criticism for paying very little to the Treasury, paid £40.4m in royalty and licensing payments to a parent company, more than five times the amount it paid in tax to HM Revenue and Customs.
🤔

MissAdventure

Would it include cancer patients, having to pay for their meds, or those with long term, chronic illness?

Liz Lettuce Truss contemplated making people pay for cancer treatments!!

Nelli123

While all those living in Wales and Scotland get absolutely free prescriptions regardless of age, then no, I don't think the age limit should be raised from the current 60 in England.

Exactly! and in Scotland they get free university tuition too. England is always the poor relation