To think blanket free prescriptions for over 60s NEED to end?

[Idratherbepaddleboarding]

I know this will be controversial but I popped to the doctors in my lunch break to collect my prescription and joined a longish queue. Everyone in front of me was over 60 and collecting huge bags of medications and I was the only one paying for any of it.

I don’t dispute that I should have to pay but often I can’t afford it which has led to me having to miss days of my medication, leaving me feeling very emotional and at times suicidal (medication is for depression). Perhaps if everyone who has over a certain income had to pay, they’d be able to lower the prescription charge for everyone or be able to afford the pay rises they say they can’t afford for nurses and junior doctors.

The killer was that every single one of the people in front of me got back into massive, brand new SUVs, one couple into a Range Rover and another into a Jaguar. If they can afford to own (and run!) cars like that, paying for a prescription would be a drop in the ocean for them. AIBU to think that free prescriptions should be limited to those in pension credit just like Universal Credit?

When DH’s grandad died, his mum and auntie shared out his collection of prescription paracetamol and ibuprofen (I know they should be returned to the pharmacy but they’d only have been destroyed and both are ex nurses so I guess they know what they’re doing). I’m not joking, there were boxes and boxes of the stuff, we didn’t buy painkillers for years and these will have cost the NHS a lot more than they would from the supermarket and weren’t even taken by the person that they were intended for! Surely paracetamol and ibuprofen should not be available on the NHS at all?

I really don’t want to bash the over 60s and it wouldn’t be a vote winner for politicians but surely we can’t afford to keep free prescriptions for those that can afford them?

Damn, I've been missing out on the £10 notes for toilet paper. I must go to the bank tomorrow and get a supply.

Well, it might. Things that are universally available, or available to everyone of a certain age, mean that people feel they're getting some benefit from the system they pay into. That's important. There's always the worry, when you mean test stuff, that eventually there comes a point where not enough of the population will buy in, or at least not enough of the ones whose taxes and labour we as a society need. It's a balancing act. So access to things like 30 free nursery hours, child benefit, free prescriptions for people in certain age brackets etc has a significance beyond whether one thinks the people receiving that benefit or service would be able to pay for it.

Once during year end we had some students from the auditors, then Coopers to help. One lad lived in Sandbach, father a company director. Je told me that when getting a prescription he always ticked the box saying he was exempt on income grounds from paying. A deliberate fraud.
I had a medical exemption due to an auto-immune problem. My GP said it was because I was more susceptible to other problems.
Imo, more ought to be done to combat fraud. Not rocket science, all govt depts have Idea installed which is the perfect tool for processing huge amounts of data quickly and could easily identify offenders.

The NHS is dogged by expensive bureaucracy.
Let's not forget the millions spaffed up the wall for dodgy PPE and similar contracts.

Closer to home... my adult child had a dodgy mole. GP agreed but didn't think it was cancerous but needed monitoring. Trouble is , the mole was in a tricky place to monitor so GP said it would be better to get rid.
GP said that, as it would be a cosmetic procedure then it would have to be done privately.
Child was aghast but GP said 'don't worry, it'll be covered by the NHS.'
Child questioned this and was met with 'yes, I know.'

Child went to a different GP practice where they did minor ops. Mole was removed. The GP said that he would have done it on the NHS . He was being paid a private fee , by the NHS to perform this. A GP in an NHS practice.

That's where money is wasted . Along with the self learn , injecting service provided by a private company for a severe bowel disorder.
Asking for a nurse to show you how is met with a 'no.'

But I'm minded to consider a sliding scale of ability to pay for prescriptions but that would cost trillions in bureaucracy.

So you believe people should stop paying for prescriptions only when they get their state pension; which gets further away as time goes by? You are assuming that everyone works until they get their state pension. I had to stop work due to chronic health issues when I was 61, 3years ago. If I had not been getting free prescriptions I would not have been able to pay for my meds and would probably be in hospital permanently. I will be 66 when I get my state pension. 3 more years to go. Thankfully I have recently been awarded PIP so I can manage for another 3 years.

No children here; and our car is old, tiny, mucky and dented because we care only that our car is able to transport us as cheaply as possible from point A to point B.

I'm over 60 and get free prescriptions so donate to the NHS at the end of each year what I would have paid in prescription charges, because I'm lucky enough to be able to pay for them. I appreciate that not every person over 60 may be able to do that.

I agree. And I'm 60.
Should all be means tested.
Why should someone who works full time get a free prescription based on age?
It needs to stop.

Not sure whether it's ageist or not but certainly very judgmental. Is it an assumption that people in expensive cars are rich? I collect medication on a weekly basis from the pharmacy and for privacy reasons I am never close enough to anyone to know whether or not they pay for their medication. Perhaps stand back a little so that you are unaware of other people's business and avoid looking out of the window at the carpark.

@Idratherbepaddleboarding as well as the PPC there are online pharmacies who deliver your prescription to you for free. I use boots. I order my prescription from their website, they send to my GP who signs it off and then Boots send my meds by Royal Mail. With my PPC on a direct debit and free delivery from Boots, it costs me nothing on a day to day basis.

I think they should be free for everyone. It will never happen under the Conservatives though. I shall cast my vote accordingly.

I didn't know I could have free prescriptions now that I'm over 60. I haven't actually had a prescription for around 25 years but good to know.

OP - my son is a type 1 diabetic and therefore insulin dependent. The world being what it is, he chats with fellow type 1s the world over - I cannot express to you how grateful we are that we don’t have to pay for insulin. It is terrifying how the condition is managed in some countries by individuals who cannot afford the life-saving medication required. Particularly terrifying how some manage in the US.

I do accept that there are some who could pay but don’t but for those who need medication - as you yourself seem to have personal experience of - it is a literal lifeline. I would rather pay more tax to give medication for free to all than have a situation where people who need medicines are rationing or not getting what they need at all.

This is a rather daft thread as OTC medications like paracetamol and ibuprofen were taken off as prescription items in 2017 any way ( very rare exceptions)

As those on low income get free prescriptions anyway and others on regular prescriptions can get a PPC,I think what the Op means is " I don't want to pay it "rather than I cant.
I think this thread with its OAPs in BIG cars and HUGE bags of tablets is designed to get everyone frothing.
Most 60 year olds I know are still working.

And who suffers if they break into more houses, steal from shops because methadone is no longer free? You are not getting the fact that reducing/stopping heroin use by prescribing free methadone is for the benefit of the whole of society. Addicts are not the ones who will suffer the most if they commit crimes to buy more heroin if methadone is not freely available so the fact that it is "their choice" is irrelevant.

I highly doubt what your saying

You are NOT getting the fact that I don't give a flying fuck. I don't think smackheads should get methadone free so fuckin leave it you won't change my mind.

We've also got thanks to the SNP an extra £25 per month if said junkie has a dog to feed @WomblingTree86 so is that fair too?

You can be pro smackhead, I won't.

To be honest it's becoming a joke. We are running out of young people to pay for all the freebies. Thats why the government want the 50 year olds to go back to work. My grandparents have been retired since I was born that's 30 years!!! A 30 year retirement will be unthinkable now people haven't paid in enough for the long retirement. Rich pensioners should pay more its a huge burden to expect your dc and dgc to pay lots of tax and be unable to buy their own property. While they are getting freebies. The generations are getting worse off as the years go on. The aging population is getting much worse everyone should be equally doing their part.

Agree with this. It’s an absolute joke.

No just a big aversion to heroin addicts actually. You sound delightful also sweetheart.

Or NHS costs when they OD or mug an old lady who breaks a hip or get into a brawl and someone ends up seriously injured.

If we can help them rehabilitate, there's no reason they can't then go on to work and pay into the system. There's no downside to helping people get better.

I worry about my dc and potential future dgc and what will life be like for them. I. not worrying about me. We are facing a demographic timebomb. I'm saving to ensure I can set them up. Pensioners can't fathom that their dcs quality of life is getting worse. They want the free healthcare , free social care, free bus passes , 40 year retirement and for the shrinking pool of workers to pay for it.

You realise people who’ve dealt with childhood abuse particularly early childhood sexual abuse are significantly more likely to become drug addicts? Learn to get some empathy instead of being such a nasty judgemental person.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/understanding-addiction/202109/why-trauma-can-lead-addiction

I’m not going to wag my finger like a judgemental idiot at people who have likely had a significantly worse start in life than I have.