so what does everyone think of the spending cuts, people with asthma are not going to get free prescriptions but they are spending a extra £5 billion on education, i think people with long term condtitions are more important as people can die without meds, i think education can wait we cant, they spend money on free prescriptions or the nhs will have to spend more money as everyone will end up in hospital, i think this is a disgrace diabetics have it and scotland and wales have it, they are spending too much money on the wrong things then call it cuts, they need to get thier piroties right
and the 5 billion is to be spent on education for 2 year olds that is what nurseries are for, the nhs is far worse then the education as schools are not bad, as i only finshed two years ago and i did allright
18 Replies
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Hmmm I don't know really. I do admit that it is quite unfair about prescriptions but speaking to my pharmacist they said you may be able to obtain a medical exemption certificate for free prescriptions depending on what medicines you take. I still pay for my prescriptions but pay a pre pay certificate that costs me £10 every quarter. For what I am being prescribed I am happy to pay that.
The money has to come from somewhere and *so far* they have been pretty much scattered across the board hitting all households in every income bracket (tax credit for pension, child benefit etc) so at least so far they haven't hit the most vulnerable.
I think there is an issue with different standards for different countries/conditions; either we should all pay (as in all countries, no medical exemption) or we should all not pay.
I personally don't see the problem with paying for prescriptions. Whatever people think/complain/say we have a fantastic NHS system that is free at the point of access and it is this we should be fighting to retain; I can't imagine living somewhere like America where your ability to pay determines the care you get. Given everything we get (and it costs a huge amount everytime we are admitted with our asthma ) I don't think it's too much to ask that we pay for our prescriptions.
I've heard the argument that asthma medications are necessary to live and so we should get them free; but food, clothes, shelter etc. are all also necessary to live but we don't all get free food parcels...
Prescriptions are really not that expensive when compared with other things and taking into account what we do get free. If you have several medications you can get a prescription prepayment certificate which greatly reduces the cost. If you are on that low an income that you really cannot afford this, your prescriptions are free anyway so no-one would go without medications if they truly couldn't pay.
What ever the cuts someone somewhere will be unhappy. I am more concerned (and stressed) about forthcoming changes for those who are on Incapacity Benefit . Have been on this benefit since 1994 due to my brittle asthma, whilst I am not against the theory of me working, know that the practicality is not workable. Have read all I can on the forthcoming changes and just thinking oh my god! The only funny thing I can see about my reaction is that I have just completed a final assignment for OU about Moral Panic caused by the media, and here I am panicking.
Joking aside I think the Government is just making too many cuts too soon, of course our financial situation needs to be reviewed, but as the saying goes ""more haste, less speed,"" think the government has forgotten this saying.
What ever the cuts someone somewhere will be unhappy. I am more concerned (and stressed) about forthcoming changes for those who are on Incapacity Benefit . Have been on this benefit since 1994 due to my brittle asthma, whilst I am not against the theory of me working, know that the practicality is not workable. Have read all I can on the forthcoming changes and just thinking oh my god! The only funny thing I can see about my reaction is that I have just completed a final assignment for OU about Moral Panic caused by the media, and here I am panicking.
Joking aside I think the Government is just making too many cuts too soon, of course our financial situation needs to be reviewed, but as the saying goes ""more haste, less speed,"" think the government has forgotten this saying.
prescriptions stil have a charge in scotland....
ratty - its not neccessary so that people on low income get prescriptions free. although i do admit i get mine free because of an underactive thyroid to which if i didnt take my meds i would slowly stop-literally; however my teen is at college, doesnt get ema this year, cant get any grants (complicated situation but not down to my very very low income being too high for the cut off or anthing like that), she cant get a part time job (genuine reason at the min) but this last week had to get 3 lots of prescriptions for the teen as been quite ill-£22.50 which i had to pay for but cant afford-living on beans on toast this week and prob next week too. basically prescription charges are not competitive with what you can buy over the counter, they discriminate against many illnessess that can actually shorten life (had a relative that had a brain tumour but still had to pay!). im not saying they should be free but maybe if the government concentrated on things like actually deporting people who have failed asylum bids rather than pay for them or bring the age down of retirement and allow the younger generation to actually have decent jobs to live a life then money could maybe be spent on helping those with medical conditions that are life threatening or for the likes of my teen (who would have been seriously ill if not given the meds). the system is not fair and unfortunately some people know how to play it but because of this people who are genuine are being failed.sorry rant over
Jay - If someone is on a low income and has limited savings they are entitled to free prescriptions or (if their income/savings are slightly higher but still below a certain level) some help towards health costs. It is simply inaccurate to state that people will die because they cannot afford medication - if they truly cannot afford it (rather than not prioritising their spending which is very different...) they will be getting free prescriptions anyway.
As to your teenager - everyone 18 or under in full-time education is entitled to free prescriptions.
If someone is having to pay £22.50 for prescriptions in one week then they should have got a pre-payment certificate. These can be paid by direct debit, so there isn't even the excuse of saying you haven't saved up the money for one. This isn't about 'playing the system'; it's about being sensible.
As to your idea to reduce the retirement age - this would also result in the pension having to be paid earlier and hence would actually cost more...
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Jay - If someone is on a low income and has limited savings they are entitled to free prescriptions or (if their income/savings are slightly higher but still below a certain level) some help towards health costs. It is simply inaccurate to state that people will die because they cannot afford medication - if they truly cannot afford it (rather than not prioritising their spending which is very different...) they will be getting free prescriptions anyway.
As to your teenager - everyone 18 or under in full-time education is entitled to free prescriptions.
If someone is having to pay £22.50 for prescriptions in one week then they should have got a pre-payment certificate. These can be paid by direct debit, so there isn't even the excuse of saying you haven't saved up the money for one. This isn't about 'playing the system'; it's about being sensible.
As to your idea to reduce the retirement age - this would also result in the pension having to be paid earlier and hence would actually cost more...
I know that you wrote this a while ago, but was reading the forum. what about those that dont qualify for low-income support and live on the threshold and for those asthmatics whom are affected by the cold they need to fund their heating to ensure a safe environment and lets be honest the added stress of having to fund necessary prescription charges causes added unnecessary stress and its no joke that stress is the biggest killer anyways.
Why can drug users get free needles and free meth on the NHS and even the new scandal of boob jobs on the NHS. if the NHS can fund unnecessary things like this then they can surely fund free prescriptions for asthmatics?
As a young disabled adult - i personally think we have got away very lightly and will not get much changed from how we are now. If you geniunly cannot work and cannot get about etc i think as promised we will be looked after by the government as they stated in there promise. I get free prescriptions because i cannot work. I even get my prescriptions delivered to my house for free because i cannot walk the 50yards from my car to the pharmacy door on a good day let alone a bad day. (not asthma - genetic).
Just my personal thoughts.
Plumie
ratty- thing is my teen has just turned 19 but still doing a levels and we have looked into getting the prescriptions paid for but it is a no no. i would have a pre payment for teen if ill before but this first time been ill for long time so wasnt expecting it-what could i do-not pay for them and let teen be hospitalised? i dont produce thyroxine so would shut down if i didnt get meds and if i had to pay what would i take that money from-fresh fruit and veg?-cant afford it so cant be that-drink-cigarettes-dont do that so couldnt be that, new clothes-dont buy any so couldnt be from that....etc etc. im not saying that my ideas are the way to go im suggesting that there should be ways that someone who needs essential meds for life threathening illnessess like my relative who had a brain tumour but had to pay (which i hasten to add had a 6monthly pre-pay as yearly was out of financial reach) which caused major financial problems. this country is a joke when it comes to the nhs. they will provide people with therapies that are complementary to medicine yet wont pay for things like this. maybe if we were more like other countries and made vistors pay or ask for minimal charges for non essentials like nicotine patches then more money would be available. the government are hoping that by upping the age of retirement the people wont live long enough to take up the pensions! let them have a life that they have paid in to for all of these years and let the young ones have a chance dont get me wrong i am very proud of the nhs without it i wouldnt be here but money is not given to the right areas. its just my opinion just as yours is yours.
Jay, if your choice was genuinely buy food or buy medication would your income not be classed as low enough to be entitled to free prescriptions?
Also, your teenager (I'm assuming they don't have savings over £16,000!!!!! ) should be able to complete an HC1 form (from you GP or pharmacy) and should be able to get help towards health costs if they have no income.
Jay - if you got a reciept with the prescription get your teen to get a HC1 form. they're available at job centres/some hospitals/ online from the NHS business services authority. It works out your income against your outgoings (or what the government says the minimum you need to live off it which may be the case for your teenager), S/he should then recieve a breakdown and if entitled, a certificate for free prescriptions.
If you aren't entitled to free prescriptions/a hc2 it shows that somewhere somehow there is potential for you to be able to afford prescriptions, and that actually there are people a lot worse off. I wish I had 16k in the bank, or had just even to what the government says is the minimum a single person can live off per week (same as Job seekers allowance).
I believe the prescription charge system is unfair in certain ways but at the same time it is there for a reason, drugs aren't free - somebody somewhere has to pay, why shouldn't it be the person recieving direct benefit from taking it? In a single month because of the way my gp has prescribed my medication I would be paying over £150 for prescriptions, however in comparison to other countries we do get a good deal. To pay for each of these drugs at trade prices would see that figure be at least 3 times higher. We get an even better deal with the Pre-payment certificates - for me it would work out at just 50p per item/month.
Emma
Edited to add:
Asthma UK have worked long and hard themselves and in collaboration with other charities trying to get free prescriptions for people with long term conditions, but obviously it is not viable for the new government in the next four years, it's not as if nothing has been done about it, so really there's no point moaning about it and complaining when time and energy could be put to much better use elsewhere!
And going back to to the post about education. Without education we wouldn't have a healthcare system so we'd all be dead anyway. Each of the sectors that the government splits money into have been affected, some more than others and some which many people may either agree or disagree with. It's just about making the best of a bad situation and who knows... when the country is not in as much debt as it is now things like free prescriptions for all may become a reality, we need to have money to be able to invest money, getting more and more into debt does nothing for a society.
yes i am teenanger and lucky to get a hc2 but that has nothing to do with it, it is still disgraceful that people with certain conditions get them but not asthma when is just as life threting and they will be spending more in hospitals, it digusts me that to spend that amount on education and not help the people that really need it, i wish they would help people like me who really struggle with health, cant seem to get any money, they need to sort the goverment out, and am now scared to go back into full time work as wont be able to afford my meds
i agree to some of the changes of the benefits, but not all of then( so dont start having a go at me) i know that some people really cant work and fair enough and they should keep thier benefits but some people on esa proberly could work if they had the right support as i didnt know if i was able to work because of health and was scared untill i saw what support thier is out there for people when they are in work and i have just had a interview.
i do think there is too mnay people on jsa but does not help that some have been on it thier entire working life and wont look for a job, i know there is not many permament jobs out there but these people could work at christmas, gain more experiance as i have seen hundreds of jobs at the moment, i do think there should not be so many under 25's in uemployment, i do understand as i found it hard and thought there was nothing out there but in the last 2 weeks have found so many oppertunities and had 2 interviews
well all i can say about the cost for my teens prescription is that i was told i maybe able to claim back expenses for the dentist but not prescriptions. i havent just spoken to one professional person about this but a number but i will attempt to spend the morning ringing around again about it(well if i can be understood cos im very hoarse today with all the nebs). i can honestly say i have no way of getting money anywhere else to pay for this hence beans on toast for the next week.i cannot work out my money any other way and if it comes to deciding upon what to pay-food, bills or medication for something medically urgent -then i would have to go with the meds no matter how broke i am. if this was going to be along term thing i would attempt to get a pre payment but hopefully it isnt. i have no savings and am not able to work. my only vice is my internet (the laptop was a present) so its not as if i waste money. i am not having a go at anyone and i apologise if anyone thinks that. just as everyone else on here the messages i send are my own opinion and i dont expect for people to understand the dire financial straits i am under as it is only me living my life (with all thats gone on in the past financial or otherwise) and no one else-hence my desire to see free prescriptions etc or anything that will help those who genuinely need it.
I do think we are lucky in this country not paying full price for our meds i know for a fact the inhalers i take would cost £100 alone each month and given that i have 19 differnt medications on my monthly repeat if i hadnt have had the prepayment cert(which was a struggle to pay for even by dd) i would have had to go without some.
I now have type 1 diabetes and do sometimes feel guilty about getting my scripts free knowing that 2 yrs ago i was paying yet my health hasnt actually altered much since the diabetes diagnosis.
I do however get frustrated when people because they need 1 script 'regularly' feel they should get theirs free just because they have a certain diagnosis also when the many asthmatics who only use the occasional puuf of ventolin feel they should be entitled too(sorry if this offends but i know of at least 4 peeps in this situation!!)
I do feel that there should be a wider range of condidtions covered by free scripts but also in line with the amount of medcation needed to control it and obviously financial status of the patient. eg an asthmatic who uses ventolin occasinaly should not get free scripys but those on multiple meds (maybe level 3 treatment stage and above) should get it free, likewise only insulin depenadant diabetics.
My other view is that even if we get free scripts due to certain conditions if we need meds for a non related problem then we should pay(finances considered) eg anti fungals for athletes foot when asthmatic.
This conversation gets done to death. I have multiple health conditions for which I cannot work, yet choose not to claim benefits as my husband works. I have no problem with paying £10 a month for a prepayment certificate, which saves me almost £100 each month on prescription fees. And the fee is NOT the same as the cost of the drug, many inhalers are far more expensive than the prescription fee - it is a contribution, not payment. In Ireland you cannot even see your doctor without paying a fee, we don't know how lucky we are here. Plenty in the US (a developed country) have virtually no healthcare at all.
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) I don't think it's too much to ask that we pay for our prescriptions.
) should be able to complete an HC1 form (from you GP or pharmacy) and should be able to get help towards health costs if they have no income.
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