Tory MPs raise fears over free prescription cuts in England for ages 60-65

[Northerner]

Concerns are growing among Tory MPs about proposals that would scrap free prescriptions in England for some people aged between 60 and 65, as ministers search for ways to stem rising NHS costs.

Charities have already sounded their alarm at a consultation by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) proposing to link free prescriptions to the retirement age, meaning the threshold would rise from 60 to 66 years old. It is estimated to save the Treasury more than £250m a year, but comes as MPs are already concerned about rising living costs.

Ministers have been considering the move for months, but no decision has yet been taken on the move that could affect more than 2 million people.

The new system would see them paying £9.35 per-item cost for medicines prescribed by their GP, unless they qualified for free prescriptions in another way. Prescription changes are often made in April, meaning a decision could be imminent.

Tory MPs raise fears over free prescription cuts in England for ages 60-65

As ministers look for ways to stem rising NHS costs, some warn against the move during a cost of living crisis

www.theguardian.com

The government has wasted billions on crap PPE and the barely usable Test and Trace system, but seeks to save £250m by squeezing a bit of extra money out of people who are at an age when they are more likely to need it My understanding is that it costs as much, if not more, to administer it currently than it collects in revenue, plus I believe it is free for all in the devolved administrations. If the government wants to find more money they should look at the people whose wealth has surged in recent years, to the point where they have more than they know what to do with. I find it obscene the way they always look to the lower half of the income scales instead of the top 10%

 

[Lily123]

They can’t actually be serious? That’s horrible if they do, especially for people over that age who have multiple conditions

 

[trophywench]

Shall I feed my family today or buy this prescription? OK you have a job - but not spare money! Pete remembers his grandma having to lend his mom the money to take him to the hospital when he was very little, had fallen over and got gravel in his leg, which needed cleaning and dressing professionally every other day (or every day?) cos it had started 'going bad ways'.

 

[Northerner]

Funny how they will consider making cuts to public health, but not to the £30,000 private jets that Liz Truss flies on, or her £3,000 lunches They really do treat the nation's coffers as their own little piggy bank

 

[rayray119]

that's not good it will and not fair. how long until they scape free prescriptions for other things as well

 

[mikeyB]

England is the only country in the UK to charge for prescriptions at all, in Wales, Notrthern Ireland and Scotland prescriptions are free for everyone. That figure of £250m is peanuts set against the cost of the NHS. Less than it costs to maintain the system of checking that folk are entitled to free prescriptions. That’s why the other countries don’t bother charging - it saves money, mainly in the savings on administration of the system. And, of course, speeds up the transaction in the pharmacy.

It’s also a profiteering tax on being unwell. £9.35 per item is more than it costs the NHS for most of the drugs routinely prescribed.

That said, if you are going to give folks free prescriptions at 60, which is based on the old retirement age for women (they couldn’t do that that for men, who retired at 65 because of equality rules) then upping it to 68 is perfectly logical. But not profitable, as life expectancy is falling.

 

[Leadinglights]

At one time it was a fixed amount for the prescription regardless of the number of items but they then changed it to per item and when that happened my daughter said they had many people ask if they had to have all the medications that the doctor had prescribed as they couldn't afford them all and which should they get.

 

[Northerner]

I think the last prescription I actually paid for cost about 40p - I didn't actually go to the doctor between leaving University and breaking my arm - a period of about 15 years 😱 I was still registered with Student Health at the age of 36 😱 🙂 I knew nothing about the system when I was diagnosed in 2008, and was quite pleasantly surprised when I learned everything was free due to my diabetes. Of course, if this is their mindset, then those exemptions will probably be the next to go As I understand it, the argument is that people don't value the medication if it's free, so the idea is to make them pay a bit for it, but the counter argument is that some people will just not get the medication, creating greater expense for the NHS down the line

Nothing this government does is logical though - I have recently been listening to some episodes of R4 'Inside Science' podcasts, and the announced cut in International Aid was/is completely counter-productive, instantly cutting off funds to some very important research in other countries. Moreover, I don't think it's been cleared up yet whether the cost of re-joining Horizon (the EU science collaboration programme) will come out of the domestic science budget, crippling research at home. They simply do not know what they are doing, or rather they are saying one thing and doing another which will all come back to bite us eventually

 

[nonethewiser]

Only other way is means testing, some can comfortably afford to pay others not so.

Shame they dont go after likes of Amazon to pay more taxes, even those greedy oil giants, reading in Guardian that Shell & BP make £900 profit a second.

 

[mikeyB]

The number of people who can get free prescriptions is quite large, and complex. The full list can be found at:

Check if you can get free prescriptions

Find out if you can get free prescriptions, and any help with other NHS costs.

www.nhs.uk

When you look at that list, many people on benefits such as Universal Credit can, but only in certain circumstances. I don’t know what they are, and I don’t suppose those on the benefit know.

I could afford to pay for all my prescriptions, I suppose, but the Diabetes meds should be free. I can’t see why my other conditions, not related to diabetes, can be free as well. It’s inconsistent- folk on a War Pension can get free prescriptions, but only for their accepted condition.

Furthermore, I had to retire early for medical reasons, not related to diabetes, so I now have a pension which is higher than most people get for working. But though I pay all my tax, I don’t pay National Insurance. I haven’t bothered to get my state pension, because most of it would disappear in tax. So why shouldn’t I pay National Insurance? There are many retirees who get much more than I do, bankers and such, retired CEOs. Why don’t they pay National Insurance?

As @nonethewiser said, there should be means testing, not among the lower paid folk, but among the comfortably off.

 

[Northerner]

As @nonethewiser said, there should be means testing, not among the lower paid folk, but among the comfortably off.

Trouble is, they always choose to set the bar too low with means testing, to squeeze every last penny I'm 63 years old and I've yet to understand why people at the top of the income scale work so hard to hang on to wealth they neither need nor could possible use There's more than enough money sloshing around in this country to fund a really good, equitable society. Still, Johnson plans to 'level up', so I suppose things will be fine...