Helping the government save money

[Samdelila]

I think free prescriptions for people with certain conditions should be means tested. What else could the government cut to save money?

£9.90? I doubt her prescriptions cost as little as that.

But she can easily afford it. And the country desperately needs to save money.

🤣
If you say so.
Enjoy your welfare state while it lasts then.

OP has obviously got a bee in her bonnet about this well off acquaintance and her prescriptions so won't be interested in any other ways to save money

Stop the Department for Transport (I.e. the taxpayer) from funding the delay repay scheme when train companies should pay it. Thats not a criticism of the government BTW, its a criticism of train companies not taking responsibility.

But an argument in opposition to means testing is irrelevant in this instance. We should restrict free prescriptions to people who have already been identified as being in need of benefits. No need for further means testing.

To answer the actual question (about saving money) I'd like to see prescription waste tackled.

I'm on a few medications for an autoimmune condition and have had numerous experiences over the years with being unable to get my prescriptions updated correctly in a timely fashion resulting in surplus medication. For example in order to get one medication I had to accept 3 months worth of an incorrect dosage of the other medication because the consultant letter hadn't reached the online pharmacy who dispensed my medication.

I knew it was going to be an issue so I called pharmacy, they didnt have the consultant letter but I had it in my patient portal and offered to send it over which they refused. I also chased my team for the letter, made several calls over several days but in the end due to running low on one medication I had to just accept the prescription as it stood, knowing I was going to waste 3 months of medication as they wouldn't let me "just" order one and wait for the new script to arrive for the second medication.

There was also another time my hospital switched providers and I was sent a duplicate order. I had 10 weeks supply and they sent me another 3 months. As soon as I realised I was being sent a fulll script so early I called to try and postpone the order from the new pharmacy / supplier but again "computer said no" and I ended up with a huge backlog of medication and of course ended up having a dosage change before I made a dent in it.

I'm on quite a few support groups for my condition and this is a country wide issue thay happens in numerous trusts.

TLDR a good way to save money is to allow more autonomy with patients on long term medical conditions to manage their own supplies.

FWIW my hospital accept my surplus medication, which is a sealed and prefilled one use injection, as they use it for training new patients to inject and they even supply in emergencies (for example if someone comes into clinic and the consultant changes dose, the clinic have a supply and they can provide an interim amount of prefilled injection pens whilst the new script it being sorted).

Maybe look at the government officials and politicians expenses? Second and third home taxes? People who dont pay their fair share like large multi nationals and make them pay?

Ideally yes they should - payouts to my household alone must be costing the department of transport an arm and a leg. I assume the train companies claim they haven’t the money to pay it?

I am interested in other ways to save money! I just used my “well off acquaintance” as an example.

I think the availability of more GPs appointments and diagnostics tests will save government money as problems will be caught earlier before they require more resources to deal with them .

🍿

But we can’t just keep spending money on benefits people literally do not need either.

Well she pays enough in tax - deserves the prescription imo. I wonder if she worked so hard that she neglected her health. This often happens.

Ditch all the HOC bars and give them tap water and make them take a sandwich.

Getting snotty about prescriptions when in Scotland and Wales everyone gets them free 🙄

Getting rid of the child benefit loophole where my in laws both earning £59k a year each, therefore meaning they can claim full CB but the rules are different for one person earning 60k plus. What bullshit.

HS2. Nuff said.

I think the opposite. Free prescriptions for all might save money in the long run, removes barriers to treating medical issues reducing hospital admissions or conditions deteriorating to the point benefits are needed

I think the arguments on the thread fail to see the wood for the trees.

I need levothyroxine and have done for more than 30 years. I'm also now over 60, as is DH, and all prescriptions are free regardless. DH has none. I have Levo and Adcal D3.

35 years ago I got 365 levo and an annual blood test. Now, thanks to 28/56 day prescribing I have to have 6 prescriptions per year for each item. Each item is as cheap as chips and costs more for the GP to review every two months and the pharmacy to dispense, notwithstanding the waste of my time. Nobody questions the time wasted compared to the cost of the meds.

The fact that I have significant means is not the true point although I fail to fully understand why I have had all prescriptions free since 1990.

DH, at 64 and still working full-time and with a considerable income, is a separate matter.

Universal free school meals is another issue. When our dc were at school the paid for meals were of execrable quality and ours had a packed lunch which cost us more for the sake of better food. Once things are free, or free at the point of delivery, it makes complaint about poor standards very difficult.

The 16 hour rules around working and benefits. If there is work available and childcare is not an issue, nobody should be allowed to decline additional work to preserve benefits, but nobody should be better off claiming than working, ever. If there are local public sector or allied public sector vacancies, those who are working age and fit to work, should have to work.

This is hardly a new debate.
One danger of means testing is it may lead to some people rationing their medication. And didn’t Wakes and Scotland scrap charging partly because the cost of collecting it was inefficient compared to the benefit of universal free access?
I think this specific issue is far more complex that you present it to be.

Get rid of the triple lock on pensions. It's completely unfair to have such a generous pension scheme for the current retired population while simultaneously pushing up the retirement age for the working population.

The cost of collecting it was inefficient compared to the benefit of universal free access? Come again? How hard is it for the pharmacy to put money through the till? How difficult is it to process pre payment certificate charges? I fail to see how banking money paid for prescriptions is that complicated or expensive to do.

Anyone getting lots of prescriptions would just get a prepaid certificate though so we're talking about saving 120 pounds a person. It's not worth means testing

I get free prescriptions due to a medical condition/exemption and I've never really understood why I can get everything for free and not just the life saving drug.

If it helps, I can't recall ever using my exemption certificate for anything else. I tend to just pay for private healthcare and prescriptions for anything I need.

The one single thing that would save the government the most is tackling preventable ill health.

Putting real money into building walkable communities, workplaces that support and reward activity and healthy practices, taxing heavily unhealthy food and finding ways to stop people smoking and drinking.

Putting decent money into mental health and public health promotion in a bid to be preventative of ill health down the line would absolutely pay dividends.

Building social housing that doesn’t make people sick, funding community programmes for healthy eating and exercise and really improving council owned leisure would go a huge distance.

Preventable illnesses cost us a huge amount. They should hand out Mounjaro and gym memberships to anyone with a bmi over 30 and keep them on it.

It's been proven in Wales (google it!) that removing cost barriers to those needing regular medication mean that more people are likely to take it, are less likely to ration it, are more likely to look after their overall health better and therefore contribute to better health outcomes. It helps people manage their conditions and prevents unnecessary time spent in hospital. Also means that more people are in work managing their conditions are able to live longer and happier lives - call me mad, but I think that matters more than anything.

Multi-millionaire Nigel Farage has alluded to what you have @Samdelila - which in itself should be enough for most people to think it's a diabolical idea. He wants a medical insurance scheme to include prescription charges... of course he never gives any details so that no one can challenge him (because there is no information to challenge him on) but it's certainly where his train of thinking is going. 'More bang for your buck' is his motto. In the run up to the Senedd elections I will be reminding everyone of his utter disdain for other people.

You’ll hate me, OP! I’m a high earner but claim DLA for my child.