Why do we have to pay so much for prescriptions in England, when everyone else pays pennies or nothing at all?

[SpeedyGonzalez]

I've only recently discovered this and am incensed! I don't mind paying something, but £7.70 or whatever it is is bad enough, until you discover that it's free elsewhere in the UK.

I found I was pg at the same time as my pre-paid ran out. I only got my preg card at 16weeks and have had to pay so far for prescriptions (can claim back) including things that were cheaper over the counter because the chemist wouldnt sell me them [coinfused]

I paid $20 (12.10) for antibiotics for my 18 month old a few months ago.

That was a generic brand, a named brand would have been $25-30!

I get free prescriptions because I have a medical exemption certificate. But although I need a medical exemption because I need ongoing medication on a permanent regular basis for my epilepsy, I get anything free even if it's not related to that.

Obviously that's good for me, but a waste of the taxpayers money. I should only get medication for the actual condition itself, not for anything and everything.

You want to try paying the full cost of prescriptions, up to a family limit of 120 euro per month. I currently pay €30 a month for lustral, €8 p/m for the mini-pill, €10p/m for ventolin, €45 p/m for steroids, and €12 for something to stop the steroids eating your stomach lining. And thats if the children don't need anything, they pay full price too for everything.

Flat free prescription charges aren't so bad.

I agree, don't complain. In Scandinavia, the system is rather similar to the NHS but there is NO publicly subsidised dental care or eye tests etc and you pay the full cost of your medications (no flat fee), which can be eyewatering. In practice most people take out a health insurance policy to cover part of the cost of medications (but you need to be on it for a year before you can claim) and I think if you're low income the government will pay this for you (at least I expect they will), on the other hand the kind of poverty you see int eh UK doesn't really exist here.

Cheap generics are also not very easily available like they are in the UK (for instance the cheapest paracetamol is around GBP1 for 16 tablets, rather than the 22p you'd pay at tescos or boots...)

The standard of care though is very good in general, and I would say the same of the NHS. I don't like to hear people doing it down, it's bloody amazing.

i had to get a prepayment as i have two long term conditions which don't qualify for free and also had a number of other problems, so i suddenly went to the doctors and ended up with a bill of over £30. was actually getting quite anxious about how to pay and perhaps not taking meds one day a week to reduce cost etc.
have now got prepayment for a year and feeling much more relaxed.
They also won't give you more than a months mediation at once - i know this is to reduce waste but it also greatly increases the cost (and revenue for govt), if you don't pre pay.
added to the £60 we paid in hospital car park fees as i was in hospital so much around DDs birth it is pants to think that the welsh get all this stuff free. i know that in the past the english have been very mean to the celts but i don't think that i should be paying for them all now. really unfair on english people again.

With regards to tuition fees in Scotland, this is due the devolved powers the Scottish Parliament has over education, nothing at all to with parliament (in England)

In 2001 the Scottish parliament voted to abolish tuition fees and the graduate endowment.

However, as others have said, it is all swings and roundabouts as the money is found to pay for this- from general tax revenue.

Right now the scottish government makes up for tuition fees on a per capita basis by paying Scottish universities the equivalent of the fees that Scottish students would have paid. But once English universities start charging variable fees, how on earth is the Scottish government meant to keep this up?

Public spending is already being cut, so I guess whatiO am trying to say is that no one gets a free ride. In Scotland, no fees is based on a proud egalitarian education system where university entrance is not based on the ability to pay.
Some may even argue this system devalues the worth of a scottish degree.

So there are reasons behind the madness and it madness!

I have lived in Scotland all my life and attended a Scottish primary and secondary school. I moved abroad with my parents in the year prior to starting to uni and was therefore not eligible for any kind of grant, but got my fees paid as I i was classed as an EU student! Ridiculous! I got invites to international ceilidhs and 'welcome to Scotland' outings! I had been out the country for less than a year!

Am aware I am rambling now.....

FYI I pay for prescriptions, not universally free inscotland.

Variable top up fees will Mark the end of universal education.

I agree with flowery. I get free prescriptions because I am diabetic, but if I need antibiotics I still get them free. I would be happy to pay for my antibiotics if it meant other people (such as asthmatics) got their prescriptions for asthmatic drugs free.

It does not seem fair that some long term med conditions are covered by free prescriptions and others are not.

Riven I'm sorprised having read about your situation you don't get free px that's shocking!

I think anyone with long term health conditions should be exempt regardless of income.

However for those of you who are whinging about forking out for the odd course of antibiotics, in the UK the NHS is largely FREE, yes that's right FREE.

Quite unlike many other countries in the developed World. I would count your blessings at least you can afford to go to A+E and the GP if you need it.