Pensions ,Prescriptions & Racheal Reeve’s

Surely prescriptions should be free for the over 60's because the older we get the more likely we are to get health conditions requiring several different medications which can work out very expensive.

I think people are often on eight or more prescriptions at 60 such as statins something for çramp and all the things that older people get prescriptions for I've been on a lot for years fortunately I'm too old I think to be affected by this possible change I was on alot at 60 though

Sorry for the misunderstanding here MrsMatt.

(I've written myself about being taxed when you withdraw money from your pension pot as amounts or % could be changed)

I wrongly assumed you meant they were planning to tax on the actual awarded pension pot itself.

TakeThat7

I think people are often on eight or more prescriptions at 60 such as statins something for çramp and all the things that older people get prescriptions for I've been on a lot for years fortunately I'm too old I think to be affected by this possible change I was on alot at 60 though

Agreed, but 'season tickets' are available to reduce the cost, and whereas it would be great if we could all get free prescriptions, people of 60-66 are working age, and unless they are eligible for benefits (eg for disability) if they are treated the same as other working age people there would be scope for giving expensive drugs to sick children which are currently denied.

I had private medical insurance until recently, and interestingly the reason for our monthly payments increasing significantly was due to the cost of drugs. They explained that more and more people within the scheme were receiving treatment for various cancers. I think they meant that more innovating treatments were constantly becoming available, but of course this comes at a huge cost and someone has to pay.

Well yes. Isn’t that obvious? Medicine and medical research are expensive. This is why it makes sense for us all to ‘club together’ and pay for it collectively, with treatment based on clinical need. When people start to break away from that model and want preferential treatment based on ability to pay, they soon find out that being on the wrong side of a profit-based system isn’t fun.

My attitude has always been, that I am more than willing to pay more for someone else to benefit from treatment, precisely because I am grateful not to be in that situation myself. The preferential treatment is a separate issue.

escaped

My attitude has always been, that I am more than willing to pay more for someone else to benefit from treatment, precisely because I am grateful not to be in that situation myself. The preferential treatment is a separate issue.

Is it? That's very generous.

If you aren't looking for preferential treatment there are plenty of charities who would take your money and put it towards research. That way all of it would be spent on ensuring more people can benefit from medical advantages, and the queues would be managed according to need, not in accordance with who can buy a place at the top of them.

TakeThat7

I think people are often on eight or more prescriptions at 60 such as statins something for çramp and all the things that older people get prescriptions for I've been on a lot for years fortunately I'm too old I think to be affected by this possible change I was on alot at 60 though

Really? I'm in my 70s and don't know anyone like that. I am on levothyroxine as I have an underactive thyroid but I've been on it since my 40s so that wasn't to do with hitting 60. I was offered a prescription for paracetamol when I fell and twisted my back and had pain but I laughed at the doctor, it costs pennies so no idea why I'd want a prescription. We had words about it and he insisted on issuing the prescription which I reluctantly accepted and binned. My husband is almost 80, has been disabled for well over 30 years and even he only has 5 items on his prescription list but only has two of them regularly. I do get cramp and when I mentioned that to GP she just said get some magnesium. Sensible woman.

I'm quite shocked if it is considered common to have 8 items.

Doodledog

Well yes. Isn’t that obvious? Medicine and medical research are expensive. This is why it makes sense for us all to ‘club together’ and pay for it collectively, with treatment based on clinical need. When people start to break away from that model and want preferential treatment based on ability to pay, they soon find out that being on the wrong side of a profit-based system isn’t fun.

I agree and I think if King Charles, Boris Johnson and anyone with money/influence had to join the queue with everyone else they'd soon make sure things improved.

I haven't paid for prescriptions since my underactive thyroid was diagnosed, a perk of having the condition. I just looked up how much a season ticket costs and it is under £10 a month if you buy a 12 month ticket, if you are on 8 items a month that is a real bargain.

theworriedwell

Doodledog

Well yes. Isn’t that obvious? Medicine and medical research are expensive. This is why it makes sense for us all to ‘club together’ and pay for it collectively, with treatment based on clinical need. When people start to break away from that model and want preferential treatment based on ability to pay, they soon find out that being on the wrong side of a profit-based system isn’t fun.

I agree and I think if King Charles, Boris Johnson and anyone with money/influence had to join the queue with everyone else they'd soon make sure things improved.

Keir Starmer.

I cant believe people are complaining about free prescriptions!!!

Lisaangel10

theworriedwell

Doodledog

Well yes. Isn’t that obvious? Medicine and medical research are expensive. This is why it makes sense for us all to ‘club together’ and pay for it collectively, with treatment based on clinical need. When people start to break away from that model and want preferential treatment based on ability to pay, they soon find out that being on the wrong side of a profit-based system isn’t fun.

I agree and I think if King Charles, Boris Johnson and anyone with money/influence had to join the queue with everyone else they'd soon make sure things improved.

Keir Starmer.

He's already said he won't use private medical care hasn't he? Good, he can work on making things better. Pity Boris, Liz, Rishi didn't do the same.

Don't you believe it. ALL Members of Parliament get VIP treatment across the road from Westminster at St. Thomas' (Tommy's). They are given private rooms and swift access to doctors, I know this for a fact.
Do you really think KS will hang on the end of his telephone for 40 minutes to get a doctor's appointment in 6 weeks time?
It might not be "private" medical care, but it certainly isn't the usual NHS care. KS can say what he likes to sound like the rest of us, but that clearly isn't the case.

This is not trying to excuse anything, but there are genuine security issues at stake.

Would KS have to wait 6 weeks to see a GP? Well, not in my practice nor many others, its a postcode lottery.

For example BJ had a private room Covid wise, but I think everyone understood you couldn't have security officers in an ICU unit or a ward?

Lemontart
I completely agree.

And I love lemon tart and lemon drizzle cake anything lemony really 🍰🍰🍰

NotSpaghetti

I never understood why prescriptions are free at 60.
Why?

Wales and Scotland have free prescriptions for all which we in England fund via the Barnet system!

Well yes. I know. And someone else has already made that point.

Wales and Scotland are just making different choices WelwynWitch3

I still don't understand why in England we get them free from age 60.

WelwynWitch3

NotSpaghetti

I never understood why prescriptions are free at 60.
Why?

Wales and Scotland have free prescriptions for all which we in England fund via the Barnet system!

No, you in England don’t fund free prescriptions in the other nations WelwynWitch3, they each have the discretion to use their global allocation for health in the way they think best meets the needs of their population, just as the English do. The Barnett formula is a convention, it can be changed by any government.

theworriedwell

I haven't paid for prescriptions since my underactive thyroid was diagnosed, a perk of having the condition. I just looked up how much a season ticket costs and it is under £10 a month if you buy a 12 month ticket, if you are on 8 items a month that is a real bargain.

And that's something that is inherently unfair. Your thyroid medication could be provided free on its own individual prescription, leaving you to pay for anything else. It's a mystery how they decide why some lifelong conditions qualify for this "perk" and not others. Asthmatics don't get free prescriptions despite needing medication just to be able to breathe.
As for the season ticket, it's all well and good quoting a 'per month' cost, but you can't pay monthly, you need to be able to afford the lump sum up front, not evrybody can manage that.

So someone above finds it hard to believe a person over sixty could be on a lot of prescriptions because they are seventy and well themselves I'm on alot but would never have requested paracetomal I can buy that thanks very cheaply I very rarely go to the doctors I'm not some soppy person looking to be ill but life happens and some older people need a lot of prescriptiond

Same for me.
If I can buy stuff, I do, but unfortunately need lots and lots of meds that aren't available to buy.

Asthmatics don’t get free prescriptions despite needing medication just to be able to breathe

I have four different medications prescribed to treat my asthma. They only became free when I turned sixty. Previous to that I did buy the ‘season ticket.’ Some people can’t afford the outlay though. I was never able to understand the reasoning that made meditation free for some lifelong conditions, whilst excluding asthma, which kills three people each day in the UK.