Helping the government save money

Because then people who just miss out on being entitled to benefits might not be able to afford them, get worse, end up being hospitalised and that costs a shitload more than some free antibiotics and as an added bonus increases pressure on A&E.

(We don't get means tested benefits because of our savings, but our earnings don't cover our outgoings so savings are reducing. If I wasn't in Wales I'd absolutely be considering how necessary a prescription was.)

The other side of this is only being allowed 30 days medication at a time. The recommendation for my DH's condition is that three months should be provided, largely because double doses are needed sometimes.

Our GP surgery will not allow this. If he does have to take a double dose, let's say he's had the flu, it's then a fight to reorder because they say he's ordering too early.

I understand they want to reduce waste, but with DH there's not going to be any wasted medication because if he doesn't take it he will die. It's very frustrating, particularly with his last repeat which either the surgery or the pharmacy fucked up (nobody was admitting fault), potentially leaving him without medication - the pharmacy eventually gave an emergency supply when the importance of it was pointed out to them.

But there are always anomalies. There are edge cases where people on benefits have more income than lower earners who don’t qualify. Benefits doesn’t automatically equal being worse off than someone not on benefits.

I think the age-related free prescriptions should be aligned with state pension age rather than keeping it at 60, though.

What about the Scottish, Northern Irish and the Welsh who get all prescriptions free? Is that fair on the English?

I really don't understand the big issue when it's £120 a year.

I only have a prescription for one item currently. I asked the doctor to make it for 8 weeks rather than 4 weeks, therefore I only have to pay for a prescription every 8 weeks.

When I had 4 medications and needed a weekly prescription then I paid for the prepayment prescription card.

So I don't get my heart medication because I'm not on benefits? I don't even earn a quarter of £200,000. I don't take a penny off the state and never have in my life. But yes, I should pay to stay alive. Even though my heart condition is not my fault; I work, contribute and take nothing from the taxpayer, and never have.

I gather that you don't really have a great understanding of type 1 diabetes. The thing is that it very rarely arises in a vacuum. Numerous other health issues can be warning signs/precursors/contributory factors; and in turn, even after diagnosis and regular, controlled treatment, it puts out its tentacles and tends to cause and exacerbate countless other health issues throughout the whole body - basically potentially everywhere that blood goes.

Added to this that many people living with it face huge challenges that will seriously affect their energy levels and reduce their capacity to work and earn long term as fully as if they didn't have T1D - plus of course being barred from a number of jobs because of their condition.

If it makes you happier, many people with T1D will die considerably earlier than average as a direct result of the condition and/or complications; so they won't continue to be such a drain on the country's healthcare costs (or pension costs) for nearly as long as the decent, righteous people who don't have it...

Like people with benefits get everything else free so are better off than some low earners and pensioners

But all the admin that would go with means testing those people would probably end up costing more than the savings!

I paid just shy of £50k tax last year. Do I feel guilty about claiming a few £k back for my child with needs? Do I fuck.

I agree with everything except the tax on unhealthy food. I would agree with this if the money raised was used to subsidise whole foods and lean proteins. And, yes, I know, the average MNetter can feed a family of four for a week with a single lentil and half a can of pasata, but for the rest of us mere mortals, whole foods cost more. People can't afford a tax on the most affordable foods right now.

You’ll hate me, OP! I’m a high earner but claim DLA for my child.

It's been proven in Wales (google it!) that removing cost barriers to those needing regular medication mean that more people are likely to take it, are less likely to ration it, are more likely to look after their overall health better and therefore contribute to better health outcomes. It helps people manage their conditions and prevents unnecessary time spent in hospital. Also means that more people are in work managing their conditions are able to live longer and happier lives - call me mad, but I think that matters more than anything.

Multi-millionaire Nigel Farage has alluded to what you have @Samdelila - which in itself should be enough for most people to think it's a diabolical idea. He wants a medical insurance scheme to include prescription charges... of course he never gives any details so that no one can challenge him (because there is no information to challenge him on) but it's certainly where his train of thinking is going. 'More bang for your buck' is his motto. In the run up to the Senedd elections I will be reminding everyone of his utter disdain for other people.

The one single thing that would save the government the most is tackling preventable ill health.

Putting real money into building walkable communities, workplaces that support and reward activity and healthy practices, taxing heavily unhealthy food and finding ways to stop people smoking and drinking.

Putting decent money into mental health and public health promotion in a bid to be preventative of ill health down the line would absolutely pay dividends.

Building social housing that doesn’t make people sick, funding community programmes for healthy eating and exercise and really improving council owned leisure would go a huge distance.

Preventable illnesses cost us a huge amount. They should hand out Mounjaro and gym memberships to anyone with a bmi over 30 and keep them on it.

I get free prescriptions due to a medical condition/exemption and I've never really understood why I can get everything for free and not just the life saving drug.

If it helps, I can't recall ever using my exemption certificate for anything else. I tend to just pay for private healthcare and prescriptions for anything I need.

Anyone getting lots of prescriptions would just get a prepaid certificate though so we're talking about saving 120 pounds a person. It's not worth means testing

Get rid of the triple lock on pensions. It's completely unfair to have such a generous pension scheme for the current retired population while simultaneously pushing up the retirement age for the working population.

This is hardly a new debate.
One danger of means testing is it may lead to some people rationing their medication. And didn’t Wakes and Scotland scrap charging partly because the cost of collecting it was inefficient compared to the benefit of universal free access?
I think this specific issue is far more complex that you present it to be.