What happens if you can't afford your medication?

[Frequency]

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?

I think most people pay for their prescriptions but most prescriptions aren’t paid for - simply because most are dispensed to people who are in an exempt group.

Sorry haven't read the full thread. You can get pre payment certificates to make it a lot cheaper if you have lots of medication - I only have one prescription a month but it was still cheaper for me to get a yearly pre payment certificate.

Absolutely no idea what happens if you genuinely can't afford it. It's only 9.50 so presumably if someone can't afford that, they may be entitled to some form of UC or support, I'm not sure!
Interesting question.

The thyroid thing is baffling though (and I have hypothyroidism so I do know a little about it). If someone has an asthma attack or an anaphylactic allergic reaction they could easily die there and then if they don’t have their prescribed inhaler or EpiPen. Someone with hypothyroidism who runs out of levothyroxine is going to take a long time to get life-threateningly unwell (just think about how the NHS won’t even diagnose you until your tsh level gets to 10 or something bonkers). It just doesn’t stack up, to me.

Speak to your GP and tell them of the financial strain this is putting on you and ask for a prescription for 2 inhalers so it is half the number of scripts per year. Are you entitled to a Medical Exemption Certificate? Asthma is one of the conditions that can entitle you to this. Speak to your GP or Pharmacist. If you claim certain benefits or are on low income you may also be exempt. Your pharmacist should have a small consulting room and will have a private discussion with you on these issues if you ask.

That sucks for you OP.

This might sound incredibly patronising so apols but if I were you, I’d look at your bills and cut whatever I could then look to increase your income. To get the prescription, you’d only need to work for one hour and a bit. Could you increase your hours? Could you work one evening in a pub? Could you sell some bits and bobs? Could you do some babysitting or dog walking?

I’m in NI so free prescriptions but my son is at university in England. He was just paying for each item but is seeing GP today and will potentially need three items so a three month prepayment would make more sense. Does he pay for that at the chemist or is that something I buy online before he goes? Thank you.

Further complicated by having hospital appointments at home and frequent changes of medication. Would have been so much easier if he didn’t have to completely transfer GP to England. Maybe some kind of shared care with his home GP? Makes it so hard to get any help when he’s at home.

The article someone linked above says that 57% of adults have missed meds they need due to prescription costs. I don't know if that is just asthma sufferers or everyone, but if it is true, the system is not working.

Maybe the income threshold should be higher if we cannot afford free prescriptions for everyone. Or maybe we should stop giving out Calpol and paracetamol on prescription and give people a £2 Tesco voucher instead if they can't afford it, and make all life-saving meds free.

I don't know what the answer is, it just seems wrong to me that someone might have to go without a medication that they could die without.

This!

It shouldn’t be realistically possible. The low income support, is calculated after expenses not on how much you earn. So if you actually genuinely have no money after you pay all your bills, you can get free prescriptions, dentist, and eye tests/glasses.

Who is giving out paracetamol or calpol on prescription? In my experience that's only ever when it's given in hospital - and that makes sense, you can see the logistics of making patients provide their own when hospitalised don't make sense. GPs sometimes used to prescribe things like that to save patients the cost but in my experience that stopped long ago, as did GPs putting multiple months' doses on one prescription so that the patient saved on the prescription charge.

Or Scotland,my prescriptions are free here too!

There will be a huge amount of people reading this who do not currently have the funds to pay for a single one off prescription, never mind the cost of a pre-payment - regardless of how much it's going to save them in the long term.

If you’re needing one inhaler a month, explain to your GP and ask them to prescribe 3 at a time - you only pay the prescription charge once.
@Horrace most people who need prescriptions fall into at least one category of young / old / pregnant / on eligible benefits / has an eligible long term condition. From memory about 10% of prescriptions are paid for.

If I needed a prescription and didn't have the money to pay for it, I'd just lie and tick the box that says I do pre-pay or receive benefits. I'm aware that's fraud and may land me in trouble, but I'd take my chances if I was in that situation.

That only works out if you have a minimum of two prescriptions most months.

So, when I had just one thing it wasn't worth it. But luckily I got an infection, so then it made it worthwhile!

If you get the prepayment certificate it’s the same as one a month but any additional meds are essentially free. Based on how much people spend on non essentials like coffee, take aways etc there can’t be many who can’t afford prescriptions (those on certain benefits don’t pay already)

Can you ask the GP to prescribe three at a time, on one script? I think they're allowed to prescribe up to three months of most medications.

I’m a GP in a deprived area and if requested give patients longer scripts to save money (though very few of my patients pay for prescriptions). I also prescribe things we shouldn’t really if someone actually can’t afford to buy - it isn’t ideal for the NHS, but much cheaper than them needing further doctor appointments because they didn’t buy Calpol / hydrocortisone etc

I know this will cost more but I think you should ask your GP for a drug called montelukast. It will help your asthma a great deal.and stop you getting quite so unwell when you have a cold or flu. I used to have 4-6 infections a year that then gave me asthma, and that's now reduced to 1-2 a year and they're less damaging.

You may also want a review of your inhaler to.see.if you should switch to a different brand or higher dose.

A prepaid certificate costs £114.50 a year and a single monthly prescription costs £114. So right now it's not cheaper, but would be if you are prescribed montelukast.

This is what I am questioning. Why isn't asthma classed as a long-term condition? I was diagnosed over 30 years ago; to me, that's pretty long-term. Ditto allergies severe enough to need an EpiPen.

I understand that sometimes very young children grow out of asthma, but it's not always the case, and adults never do.

We in the uk are led to believe that healthcare in Australia is fantastic - didn't know you have to pay for medication if you had epilepsy

Why don't you get the prepayment certificate, and in that 3 month period get your inhaler way more regularly than normal (so get one once every two or three weeks, instead of once every four). Then, when your three months is up you'll have a small supply.

If you doctor mentions this you can just say you lost one, or you've had flare up etc. I've lost my blue inhaler before, or needed one earlier due to allergies etc, and it's never been mentioned by the GP.

No idea where you got it from that people with asthma are exempt from prescription charges? They're not unless they have another condition which entities then yo free prescriptions

Ds is only young so on a low wage, I pay for his EpiPens but find it shocking that something so vital isn’t free!

Also agree with two prescribed at once. I have this and it's brilliant (plus it allows me to leave on by my bed and one in my bag or pocket)