AIBU to be enraged about a £100 HRT fine?

[OnlyOneAdda]

Been on HRT for about 18 months ago, so have purchased HRT pre payment certificate. Each time I collect my prescriptions, I am asked to show my certificate as proof of payment.

I have just received a letter from NHS saying according to their records I have falsely claimed for a prescription and I will be fined £100. Have called them and provided my certificate number...turns out that one of the new medications my GP added six months ago isn't covered and I should have paid. The letter explicitly states that being mislead by the pharmacy is not a valid exclude.

WTAF? The pharmacy accepted it as payment. If this item wasn't eligible then they shouldn't have. If I go into a shop that doesn't accept AmEx they tell my at point of payment - they don't send me a £100 fine six months later and tell me I should have known better and used a different card.

If I've pre-paid my HRT then it should cover all fucking HRT. And if an item isn't payable by the means provided at the till then this should be flagged at point of sale!!!

Absolutely fuming 🤬 (and of course like most AIBU posts I actually just want you to agree with me 🤣 so if you think IABU then please scroll on and leave me to my menopausal rage...)

And don't get me started on the fact that men don't have to pay full stop for HRT, sanitary products etc. 🙄

that's awful @OnlyOneAdda - I agree they should have never dispensed it in the first place without clarifying with you. I'd be making an official complaint through the company/NHS complaints team - this is not acceptable.

Considering how HARD they push that HRT certificate, I'd be absolutely livid. I don't blame you for being mad at all. Can you complain?

It does make me think I'm right to stick with a regular pre-paid certificate (i have another medication I take so it works out the same, and I save if I have even a single course of antibiotics or whatever).

Appeal your fine. They will probably reject it but iirc there is then a process you can follow to appeal the decision. The organisation who issue these fines are akin to rogue parking operators, and largely rely on people just paying up because they think they have to. I am sure there will be something on MSE about it.
I got DH to pick up a prescription for me, he got confused and told the pharmacy we had a prepayment certificate, when I only had HRT prepayment and this was something different. So I went back to the pharmacy and explained and then paid the prescription fee. They tried to fine me anyway. I had to be really persistent but they did back down.
I think the key thing is you had no intent to defraud the system. I feel your fury though! I was the same.

This has happened to me but you (and I) were in the wrong.

Means of payment is completely the patient’s responsibility. Collecting a prescription under the wrong certificate is the patient’s responsibility, it doesn’t matter what the pharmacy say. You are responsible for making sure the correct payment is made.

Plus you’ve exaggerated, unless you leave it unpaid the fine is £50. And like me I expect you won’t allow it to happen again.

I got stung but I 100% approve of the fines as so many patients claim they have a certificate but show a fake or someone else’s certificate. This puts prices up for everyone.

Unfortunately the NHS website does state quite clearly that the HRT PPC only covers certain HRT meds and that your GP may prescribe HRT that isn’t covered, in which case it’s your responsibility to check if the meds are covered by the HRT PPC or not.

These are the ones covered by the HRT PPC:
www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/help-nhs-prescription-costs/nhs-hormone-replacement-therapy-prescription-prepayment-certificate-hrt-ppc/medicines-covered-hrt-ppc

This is rubbish. The organisation is the nhs. There are very few grounds for appeal, pretty much no excuse is accepted (as anyone could lie about anything to claim free prescriptions l) except that you do know fact have a valid certificate and mistakenly presented the wrong one

Does the normal pre paid cert not cover HRT? I might have made a mistake here

Wait, your GP provided your prescription for an item that wasn't covered?

Thought the thread was that you forgot to renew certificate, which has happened to me, and just had to pay.

Query - how are you supposed to know what HRT is covered and what isn't covered?

I don't think you made an unreasonable assumption.

Yes, the normal PPC covers all HRT plus everything else. But it’s 5 times as expensive (for a year) so understandable why someone might choose the HRT PPC if the only meds they get are HRT.

Ah, I see. That's OK then.

It makes sense if your only prescription was HRT.

To find out you look it up

When you take out the hrt certificate it’s made very clear that not everything’s covered and it makes you check your medication before paying for the certificate

A normal prepayment cert does cover hrt but if you only need hrt the hrt cert is cheaper

What was the item? The HRT cert I thought only covered certain items

Because it’s made clear when you take the cert which items are included

Fair enough, but compare the pre payment for all other medication, where almost everything else included (stocking and wigs) which seems a bit of a burden on the patient having to know what's included and not.

Is it cost based that everything HRT related isn't included?

Bloody hell op where’s the vote button because I’m livid on your behalf.

Jesus. People shouldn't have to become investigators to get their medication.

Checking a list of meds that are covered on the NHS website is hardly “becoming an investigator”. 🙄 Especially when the website where you buy the HRT PPC from tells you to check that your meds are covered (i.e. on the list) before you buy the PPC.

You don't know what you don't know, and the OP clearly didn't know. Sometimes there's an unreasonable burden on service users and in this case I believe the onus should be on the provider, not the patient.

🙄

Anyone doubting please head over to the hrt prepayment portal and start a sign up.
It is crystal clear.
People need to start taking responsibility for their own selves.

This happened to me recently. My son had picked up my HRT and wasn’t even questioned. I then got a fine which I challenged, but unsuccessfully. I don’t think it was £100, it was about £60 iirc.

Mine was because the prescription included testosterone gel. Part of my HRT regime, but not covered, apparently. Would’ve been helpful if the pharmacist had actually mentioned it.

Onus is on the provider?

Say I use a weekend only pass to access a service on a weekday. When I took out the pass it was made very clear what the pass could be used for. Whose fault is it then if I go ahead and use the pass on a weekday and get charged a surcharge??!

People need to start taking responsibility for themselves as this is part of the reason for the mess the NHS is in.

Sounds a crazy system. If it's too onerous for the pharmacy staff to know what is covered by the certificate then why should Joanna Blogs know. If anyone should be checking and held accountable it should be the pharmacy staff - they are the experts not the customer.

If you tried to use a weekend pass on a weekday I would expect the staff to turn you away or "computer says no". Not a £100 fine.

If you already have your certificate and GP prescribes a change/something different within the year, you would have to go back to the NHS portal and check before purchasing it. I have to say I would never have even thought to do that and definitiely not while on the short walk round the corner from Drs to chemists holding my prescription.

Prompted by this thread, I have just checked and one of mine is not on the list, which made me panic, but as it is a mini-pill I am guessing it is covered as free for contraceptives.

I think the chemist should have flagged and should know what needs paying for and what is exempt and advise accordingly.

What was the item OP?