Why are some prescriptions free and others aren’t?

[Soubriquet]

Before I start, I just wanted to say I do not hate those who get free prescriptions but I do wonder how the nhs can charge between them

Diabetic medicine is covered. Yet inhalers for asthmatics aren’t?

Both are life saving medication but the nhs only covers one

So how do they decide that?

And for those who have to pay, please don’t forget you can get a pre pay certificate which helps pay for your prescriptions every month instead of having to pay for each one

I've wondered this.
When I had cancer, I was given an exemption certificate, and it made no sense to me, as I had a few years of prescription, not a lifetime like so many folk have.

Very strange

I hope you’re in remission now though

I think it’s historic rule given diabetics had more health issues. Like you say being able breath also essential meds. Really it should be free if can’t pay everyone else gets the yearly certificate of need more than 2 regular meds.

The list of conditions for medical exemption is fairly historic isn't it? Isn't the thinking that it is conditions that are likely to lead to co-morbidities and therefore additional medication needs over time?

Is it because diabetes can cause much longer term health issues?

Maybe but asthma can kill very quickly if they do not receive medication.

I have no idea.

I pay for the 6 medicines I get a month including asthma meds. My endo said to me if I needed to start taking thyroid meds then they would all be free.

Asthma stuff should be free to really. The £10 a month is ok for me, but in some circumstances it might not be.

All Prescriptions are free in Wales

It's ridiculous to be honest, drugs for those with severe mental health issues are not free, my mums thyroid medication is. Most the drugs that are free are older ones, things that were known in the 50's

I get inhalers and ADs. I have in the past lied about having the low income certificate to get my inhalers free. I got caught and rightly fined, luckily by then I was in a better place financially. It can be tough

@Soubriquet

Maybe but asthma can kill very quickly if they do not receive medication.

I wonder if it’s because you can, to an extent, ignore your diabetes until it is causing extra health issues, whereas you cannot ignore not being able to breathe. Therefore people might be more likely to skip the life-saving preventative meds for diabetes management and it’s a case of removing that barrier?

I’m not saying it’s fair, though.

I've always wondered this too as it doesn't seem to add up why some are free and some aren't.

I’ve often wondered if there chemists should be able to let people off paying on a discretionary payment, if cards have declined or people explain. Not a widely advertised thing though or I suppose people will take advantaged

I can get free prescriptions as I have an underactive thyroid. I'm sure I read somewhere that it's a historic thing ,as hypothyroidism was one of the first conditions that could be controlled with daily medication. As more medicines were developed to control chronic conditions, not all those conditions were added to the list that qualufy for free prescriptions.

No. It’s a very strange set up

I can see why some medications are free. Birth control is and always should be free but why are some life saving medication not? It’s random

The list was defined in 1968 according to this www.parkinsons.org.uk/news/nhs-medical-exemption-list-turns-50\

Maybe it's easier to leave as is rather than try to change it....I can imagine there would be alot of different medical opinions on what should be included

@NoSquirrels some one near me put off getting an inhaler until she got paid. She ended up having a fatal asthma attack.

Asthma kills, not having the meds can kill and quickly.

NoSquirrels if I miss one dose of my insulin I could be in a coma within hours so it can't be that. I think it really need looking at as definitely doesn't seem fair. Not sure what the answer is though

It is a very old set up. The principle is that the conditions that allow for free prescriptions are likely to have additional medical problems that impact on overall health, such as diabetes and infections or foot problems. There’s been many campaigns for other conditions to be free too such as asthma but the funds just aren’t there.

I think the free prescriptions for diabetics dates from a time when most diabetics had type 1 and type 2 was much rarer. People with T1 must be on insulin for their lifetime. People dying because they can't afford insulin would not have been a good look for the government or the NHS.

[quote kimlo]@NoSquirrels some one near me put off getting an inhaler until she got paid. She ended up having a fatal asthma attack.

Asthma kills, not having the meds can kill and quickly.[/quote]
When we was badly broke, we couldn’t afford inhalers for dh for a couple of months. He had a bad attack that required an ambulance, nebulisers and then steroids and steroid infused inhalers to get him back to a healthier state. We now get free prescriptions anyway but if we didn’t, we would budget very carefully to ensure we will always have an inhaler in the house. Especially since dd has asthma too, though no way as severely as dh does

It was only in 2009 that cancer was added to the list of conditions exempt from prescription charges.

It took years of campaigning, mainly by the charities, to secure that.

And that was back in the days when the country thought it was rich. It's a much tougher budgeting environment now. But I dare say change could yet be possible.

But is anyone campaigning for it?

The list is quite old and was, I think, based on the treatment regimes in the big revision in 1968

That’s despicable about cancer. I had no idea that had only appeared very recently

I know it gets said a lot, but compared to the USA, prescriptions are cheaper here by a long shot but still some shouldn’t be charged at all

I've never looked but heard the historical artifact might more relate to when the medications for the treatment of the chronic diseases were available and introduced and whether it got 'under the wire' for free prescriptions before the budget constraints overcame the political will in the UK (I know England now but the gate preceded devolution of NHS I think). Hence insulin and thyroxine? were introduced so diabetes and hypo-thyroidism but not steroid inhalers so not asthma though I know the individual medicines that were around pre-1940s/50s have been superseded.

I think the problem with campaigning for more meds to be added to the list is that the powers that be will just do away with it so no-one gets anything. And that will probably cause more problems than it will fix.