What happens if you can't afford your medication?

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I can btw, this is not a begging thread, but I'm taking the money from my savings, and I don't always have money in my savings, which has got me pondering.

If I didn't have savings and my asthma medication ran out, is there a scheme where I can buy now, pay later, or is it a case of risking death or needing A&E?

Are there any other life-saving medications you have to pay for, or is it just asthma? I know my mum gets free prescriptions because she needs thyroid medication, but that doesn't seem as serious or life-threatening as asthma to me.

What's the criteria for a medication being free, and why doesn't it seem to make sense?

being over 60 you very few perks,
free eye tests, free prescriptions, please dont take that away!

Yes it covers dentist issues nhs prescriptions too.

It won’t cost you more!
You need 12 - 1 a month. Pay as you go is more expensive than a 12 month prepay.

It won’t cost you more! M
You need 12 - 1 a month. Pay as you go is more expensive than a 12 month prepay.

They said they need 9. So it will cost them more

No one is suggesting stockpiling. If you do a prepay cert eg 1/1 to 31/12.
You can order on 1/1 and 31/1. Then end of every month Feb to December. That’s 13 prescriptions on 1 certificate.
If you are silly enough to want to pay more your choice but don’t complain. Anyone can need a prescription in a year on top of asthma meds eg antibiotics for a chest infection or dental if that’s the case you are saving even more.

Suggesting that someone who usually orders 9 inhalers a year orders 13 is stockpiling.

And absolute should trigger a review from her surgery about the increase as well.

But I don't need to order an inhaler on the 1st and the 31st. I order them roughly every 6 weeks. If ordering twice as many as I need is not stockpiling, then what is it?

There's also the fact that my GP monitors the need for early reviews based on how many prescriptions I order. If I regularly order more than my prescribed dose, which is 2-4 puffs a day of a 120 puff inhaler e.g, maximum of one inhaler every 30 days, it will trigger a review appointment to be booked, which wastes my time, the asthma nurse's time, and takes an appointment needed by someone who does need a review.

Anyone could need antibiotics, but I typically don't since being on my new inhaler. If I find I do, I will buy a PPC.

Why are you so determined to prove I need a PPC when I clearly do not need nor want one? This obsession you have with my medical needs is bizarre.

If you genuinely only need every 6 weeks and don’t have times of illness where you take more, have never misplaced your inhaler then yes you are cheaper pay as you go.
It’s that argument about peace of mind. If you are worried re not being able to buy one month either put money to one side or get the pre pay. It’s good there’s a choice. Personally I’d get pre pay to keep from having to be concerned about it eg if you get a chest infection know your antibiotics are covered especially if money tight.. But yes 9 prescriptions is slightly cheaper pay as you go.

It does seem unfair that some conditions result in free prescriptions, but I assume it made sense at the time. There's nothing stopping people in England from campaigning for free prescriptions, and tbh I'm surprised that the main charities for life-limiting and life-threatening conditions aren't already on it considering that Wales and Scotland already have free prescriptions. It would certainly be interesting to see comparative studies eg of asthma management across England, Wales and Scotland to see what impact free prescriptions make to health outcomes.

It did make sense at the time. All the conditions exempted had regular and reliable treatments available so were included on the exemption list.

I don't think any English government have wanted to touch it because it'll be a political minefield - what goes on the list? What, if anything, comes off?

The addition of cancer patients is very recent, relatively, and the fact that was done as a standalone change shows the reluctance to get involve with anything else.

A practical thing to do would be to use those savings to buy the PPC for a year and then request a couple of extra inhalers in that time. That way, you know you are absolutely future-proofed for the next 12 months for them and anything else you may need and you are far less likely to run out when you've hit a month with an unexpected bill, you drop an inhaler or leave it at work, or you've had a chest infection/heavy cold where you've needed to use an inhaler more often than usual.

Sometimes, relatively higher spends - in this case, £1.55 over 10 months and nothing extra for the last two - are worth it for the additional security they give.

@NeverDropYourMooncup that's another eminently sensible solution that OP will bat away like a fly.

I'm on the same inhaler as the OP. As they've pointed out (and I've been told by my surgery) only a certain amount of inhalers per year can be requested before they bring you in for a review

Yes it covers dental prescriptions.

Replied to wrong post!

Yes it covers dentist prescriptions too.

Scotlands population is similar to that of Yorkshire alone. Around 5.5m.

Wales population is 3m.

England’s population is 56million.

Does that help you see how their governments can afford those things but England can’t? There’s far too many of us in England. And we took over their countries so I think the least we can do is allow a bit of devolution. You’re welcome to move to Wales or Scotland and then get free prescriptions.

This ^

There is also a risk that your repeat prescription will be cancelled if you fail to attend the review because the GP has a duty of care, and ordering more than the prescribed dose is a red flag that the condition is no longer under control, and the patient has a higher risk of a severe or fatal attack.

The "eminently sensible solution" would be to order and use my medication as prescribed by my GP, and backed up by my asthma nurse, so that my condition can be safely and reliably monitored.

To make a pre-pay prescription a "sensible" decision they'd have to order an extra four inhalers given they pay £85.50 and a prepay is £114.50.

Someone who orders 9 inhalers a year suddenly ordering 13 isn't going to go unnoticed by their surgery - particularly in light of the recent changes to how asthma inhalers are prescribed and recommended.

It's also very short sighted, and frankly rude, to glibly suggest that someone whose funds are so tight they £9.50 is a large amount finds an extra amount every month to spend £29 a year more than they need on prescriptions.

It's also very short sighted, and frankly rude, to glibly suggest that someone whose funds are so tight they £9.50 is a large amount finds an extra amount every month to spend £29 a year more than they need on prescriptions.

It's also condescending and smacks of superiority. Poor, silly OP, doesn't know how to manage her own health or finances, let me, a stranger who knows nothing about her income, outgoings, or medical history, explain it to her, again and again and again, until she learns.

It's a common occurrence on here.

Same with people announcing they've never met anyone who couldn't afford £10/£20/100 for whatever the OP mentions.

No, it shows exactly what experience I had when suddenly faced with £85 quid of medication I desperately needed and couldn't pay for following a period where I didn't fill my usual prescriptions because of an unexpected bill.

Had I gritted my teeth and paid an extra £1.55 for ten months of the year, the equivalent of less than 4pts of milk (so drink coffee black and you're sorted in a fortnight, less if you drink non dairy milks), I'd have been able to continue working and not have a massive flare of symptoms, develop antibodies against my original medication and need considerable additional treatment that required more medication with the inherent increased costs for that new medication, time off work and sustaining significant permanent damage.

My stupid decision, my consequences.

Life's not fair and sometimes there just isn't anybody there to rescue you. In those occasions, rather than raging at the world, it's far more sensible and productive to work out ways to avoid getting in those situations in the first place.

I'm trying to reduce my outgoing and increase my savings, so spending an extra £30 a year on the off-chance I might develop another illness that requires multiple scripts and skewing the monitoring on my asthma to make that worth it, is not "sensible" but it does risk any worsening of my asthma not being picked up on or the surgery not flagging it as serious if I notice and ask for a review.

As I keep saying, if I suddenly develop other conditions and a PPC will work out cheaper, I will buy one; if I have savings or I have just been paid/had no extras to pay for that month, I will buy it outright. I will be able to use it the day I buy it.

https://faq.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/knowledgebase/article/KA-03640/en-us

If I need one inhaler and don't have £10 left in my savings or current account, I will borrow one from my dad or not buy something else I have money set aside for that I know one of the kids would then buy rather than go without, like electricity, washing powder or Netflix. Or I'll just ask one of the kids to give me a tenner. I can do that.

I was wondering how people who cannot do that manage; now I know. They go without, which I think is wrong. I also disagree that they are going without because they are too stupid to budget. Believe it or not, I am also not too stupid to budget or manage my asthma.

You're paying for Netflix at the same time as complaining you can't afford an extra £1.55 a month in exchange for insulating yourself against the cost of chest infections, increased inhaler use or a dental abscess following an invisible crack in a molar? And planning to take somebody else's medication (because their monitoring won't be affected by them needing to replace theirs earlier, presumably) or beg off your children for washing powder or electricity money?

I am also not too stupid to budget

I'm not complaining that I can't afford to, I'm saying I do not need to. The PPC does not work out cheaper for me. I do not need to spend an extra £30 for inhalers I do not need.

If I get a dental abscess or a chest infection, then I will pay for the PPC, but I'm not spending an extra £30 on off chance it happens. You can buy the PPC the day you're diagnosed/prescribed, you do know that, right? At the moment, it won't benefit me so I won't buy it.