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?

Or on a very low income. Zero hours contract maybe? There could be many reasons.

Script is £9.90

My mother gets free medication too due to thyroid but my sibling didn't and they have asthma too. Apparently the nhs haven't updated the criteria of life long conditions. If they did they would have to give a lot of medication free so they don't bother. I have a yearly pre payment as it works out cheaper

If on a very low income, you're eligible for the NHS Low Income Scheme.

You would have to go to A and E for emergency treatment. There are no schemes unless you qualify for free scripts, which 90% of the population do.

The system is very unfair. Only ten conditions qualify the patient for free scripts in England. Not a single cardiac, respiratory or psychiatric condition is included.

An annual pre-paid card costs £114.50 and is worth it if the patient has more than one script a month. But, for a not very well-off person, that's £114.50 they can't put towards their winter fuel bills, for example.

A friend of mine who is very financially comfortable got all her scripts free, as do/did her son and husband because they have/had illnesses in the ten conditions list. But I, far poorer, had to pay for my medications because I'm asthmatic. Like yourself and many others.

People with asthma have to pay for their prescriptions?!

I have epilepsy and so all my prescriptions are free.

I take 3 other medications on top of my anticonvulsants and I find it baffling that I don’t have to pay for them either just because I have epilepsy, yet people with asthma have to pay for their inhalers?!

That.

Exactly.

You can pay the £114.50 monthly by direct debit.

Or watched your 11 month old baby be rushed into a bed at hospital hooked up to machines with an IV drip because her oxygen has gone to 85 and she's not able to eat or drink. Asthma is a horrible horrible thing. So many overnight hospital stays from 6 months old because of her asthma, it's terrifying.

Where on earth do you live?! In Scotland our prescriptions are free.

Probably England, where they are not.

I've been to a&e many times this year. Each time they've given me antibiotics, and other medications without having to pay. I'm on a prepayment anyway so it wouldn't make any difference. But there's no reason why they can't charge for it

Or Scotland

I was surprised that my husband who has a stoma qualifies for free prescriptions for everything. Whereas before he had the stoma, when he was really ill and on many meds for chronic bowel disease, he didn't. I think people are unaware of how cheap prescription charges are though and how much people have to pay in other countries. My daughter was given a private prescription recently, that the consultant said wouldn't cost much to fill and it was £230 for 2 months supply.

Annoyingly our surgery stopped me having two at a time. So even though I'm on fostair I still need salbutamol and I only have one of either inhaler at any one time. Between these and my HRT I'm in the doctors most weeks picking up a repeat prescription!

I do feel that most surgeries would have a solution to this issue if you asked them. They almost certainly have a provision for this.

Meds prescribed in A&E are not free if the patient isn't admitted. My partner went to A&E for chest pain and was prescribed anti-indigestion medication which he couldn't pay for as pharmacy was closed. He was given a paper bill. He died of a heart attack 3 days later and I forgot about the bill. The NHS sent me a letter saying I had to pay for the script plus a penalty charge for not paying on time. It threatened 2 more penalty charges and the possibility of prosecution if I didn't pay quickly. I went to the hospital and paid because I was in shock. The anti-indigestion tablets (plus penalty) I paid for were useless as it was a misdiagnosis.

Surely you prioritise the life-saving £9.50 above all else. Milk for tea costs almost that, so cut out milk if you're that desperate. Eat half portions for a bit.
How absolutely ridiculous.

Direct debit. That's how I do it.

Yes indeed but it doesn't change the amount that some have to pay whilst others get everything free.

Gosh I’m so sorry to hear that. My son is in the same boat. He can get a repeat prescription of two EpiPens as often as required and he gets enough antihistamines for three a day every six weeks for free

i really feel for you, I know how important these pens can be 😕

I suspect if you can't afford medication and you get ill as a result, you would have to go to a&e and hopefully the staff will give you some for you to use until the next time. I don't know what to say really. I worry about the NHS a lot and what will happen to it if Reform get it and they do what they have hinted at and privatise it ie hand it over to Trump. I have children with long term conditions, not life threatening but a step towards privatisation and an increase in costs of medicines would be very painful.

Thank you for the correction. Someone else posted it was £9.50. I have a thyroid condition so I don't pay.

My maths wasn't wrong. The information was.

Didn't you post about this but in relation to a private prescription a few days ago? The answer now is the same as the answer then, you need a medication reveal if your prescribed medication is insufficient.

Tell me you’re out of touch without saying you’re out of touch…

That is the reality for a lot of people, myself included.
By the end of the month I’m resorting to Clearpay and Klarna to afford my weekly food shop.
That is regardless of how well I’ve managed to budget all month.
We live on the budget range of whatever supermarket we shop in, I buy clothes and shoes secondhand etc.

If one of my children suddenly needs a pair of shoes, guess where that £10 I’m supposed to “budget” is going?
If myself or any of my children need an unexpected visit to the doctor or A&E, guess where our bus fare is coming from?
etc etc.

It is not possible for me MOST months to save £10 successfully, or even £5.
This is how dire some people’s finances can be.

I swear the cost of living crisis has passed some people by because the lack of awareness is ridiculous on here.