Over 60s prescriptions

I have signed the petition.
If it goes ahead I will do what I did before reaching 60 which is pay a Direct debit of £10.81 per month for 10 months of the year, for an annual NHS Prescription Prepayment Certificate. (Total cost £108.10 for unlimited prescription items).
I’m afraid it was bound to happen ☹️

Prescriptions are free for everybody in Scotland too, same as Wales.

When I was on Jobseekers at the age of 60 I was not allowed free prescriptions. I gave up taking my bp tablets and Cholesterol because I couldn't afford them.

Pittcity

Bus passes are already linked to State Pension age here in Essex. I can see prescriptions, eye tests etc going the same way.

Bus passes have been linked to the state pension age for years in England, though some local authorities decided to pick up the tab for providing them earlier. My DH is 71 and has had his for 11 years, I'm 5 years younger and have just got mine. And I love it!

One of my medications the GP won't allow me to have more than one month's worth - two of them I can't have more than two months worth. These are for arthritis and blood pressure.

Another med I get free (and have since I was 50) is an injectable for arthritis which, I was told when I started, was a cheaper option than me not being able to work and claiming benefits. One injection per week, pack of four injections is £357.00. The USA list price is - gasp - $1,400 per injection. That is each injection. Shocking.

These costs need to be met of course. However - having seen £££,£££ spent on what turned out to be useless PPE at the start of Covid, I really wish I had confidence that the money went to the right places. I really do.

I have several prescriptions which only give me a month at a time, my tramadol needs renewing every 28;days which is even worse, I seem to go to the chemist every week to collect something. At the moment I take 5 different tablets a day plus my pain relief, paracetamol and tramadol three or four times a day.

If I have to start paying again, I will definitely get a pre payment certificate again but I won’t be happy! I signed a petition about this when it was first mooted last year and wrote to my MP but as always, she did not bother to reply.

not everyone over 60 is still working.
carers have to exist on less than £10 a day, and are not entitled to free anything. if under 60 they have to pay for prescriptions.
now seems will have to pay over 60 too.
if when they manage to get a state pension they then lose the carer's allowance, despite continuing the caring role.
it's a great life if you don't weaken.

I can't help thinking that what we really need is decent pensions for all, rather than means-tested handouts for poor pensioners. We simply shouldn't have poor pensioners in a rich country.

A better arrangement would be to charge for prescriptions for under 60s in Wales and Scotland, why discriminate against the English over 60s.

Its not discrimination. Really, get the facts right.

We're different countries. Our health services are devolved. We can decide to spend our money any way we like. If you don't like it, write to your MP and tell them you want to be like Wales and Scotland.

Oh, and BTW - we pay more income tax too. Myself, quite happily. That doesn't get mentioned often when the English start complaining about discrimination, does it?

For those who can’t get free prescriptions, because of age, and if they change this, there is a medical exemption certificate, for certain conditions, available. Prescriptions become free.

It’s nothing to do with income or age - just what condition(s) a person may have.

www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/exemption-certificates/medical-exemption-certificates

chelseababy

I think it's fair enough if you are still working.

Not if you're a WASPI woman and still working only as a result of having your State Pension age raised from 60 to 66 with next to no notice.

Just signed the petition and passed it on. I am still working at 63 due to pension age changes... I seem to be forever running to catch up with what I need to pay out with less and less coming in

Yet another Tory attack on those least able to pay and adding to their burdens. Signing the petition is probably a good thing but don't expect change: over 100,000 signing means it will be 'considered' for a debate but that does not mean a debate in the Commons, it means a debate in Westminster Hall which has no legislative effect at all, a real sham in my opinion.

If this happens check with your chemist if you qualify for medical exemption, ie diabetic, cancer and thyroid drugs. If so you will need your GP to sign a form. Also you can get exemption if on certain benefits ie universal credit. All else fails a prescription passport saves money if you need more than 12 scripts a year, don't know exact figures

"Point of order - if your government decides not to fund over-sixties prescriptions and ours does, that's not discrimination. That's a political choice."

"Its not discrimination. Really, get the facts right."

"We're different countries. Our health services are devolved. We can decide to spend our money any way we like. If you don't like it, write to your MP and tell them you want to be like Wales and Scotland."

"Oh, and BTW - we pay more income tax too. Myself, quite happily. That doesn't get mentioned often when the English start complaining about discrimination, does it?"

I've quoted all these posts by Alegrias1 because they are all, IMO, well-made and need to be made, and I can't put the points better myself.

Free prescriptions were the only benefit left to me when I turned 60 a few years ago.
Oh, and I could (and did) apply for a "Senior Citizens Railcard".

My retirement age is receding into the future, my pension is becoming worth less and less, so I don't know how I will survive on it.

No kids because when I might have had them I had a really nasty bad back and pregnancy wasn't an option for me. Plus at the time overpopulation was a worry....

I don't know why they don't just shoot us when we are of no further economic use...

Free Prescriptions should be linked to State Pension age. Those under pension age can purchase a pre-payment certificate to reduce their outlay if they have multiple items to pay for, and there are many who are entitled to free prescriptions because of medical need or benefit entitlement. Wales, Scotland, and NI make their own rules regarding how they spend their funding.

If you are already 60 or over you will continue to have free prescriptions. Only those who turn 60 when (if) the rules change will pay and then only up to age 66. Seems fair to me.

You know why don't we all just see ourselves off at 60? specially the "old women"? It certainly seems that this is what everyone wants! Or an even better , constructive move- why don't we all go on domestic strike? No washing/cleaning/cooking/shopping/ caring/babysitting/chattering to anyone we really don't HAVE to! We're probably the last bastions of politeness in society today ,men are allowed to be grumpy and everyone thinks it's funny. But get a grumpy woman? The expletives/pronouns available are well. I only have 2000 more characters to use! C'mon gals I'm sure we can think of something we're really effortlessly and historically excellent at? Being awkward. Let others have a taste of the junk we have to suck up in our lives

I have signed the petition. It won't affect me but it will affect people I know.

There are many anomalies with the prescription charges. It is ridiculous that students have to pay in England when most of them are living on a grant with no extra income. In some Unis you are not allowed to have a part time job to supplement your low income.
People with certain conditions can get all their prescriptions free which just doesn't make sense.
I would like to see a sliding scale for prescriptions based on income. Rich pensioners should pay, poor pensioners shouldn't. However, I suspect we will never agree on who is rich and who is poor!
My daughter is permanently disabled but because her husband works, her disability benefit doesn't allow her free prescriptions. They literally have a household income that is barely over Universal Credit but they have to pay for their prescriptions. When the Benefits Office inadvertently gave the wrong advice about whether she was able to claim for free prescription, she got a large fine. It cost her more to ring the helpline to find out why she was being fined and at the end of it, she still had to pay.
The system is broken!

NotANana

Free prescriptions were the only benefit left to me when I turned 60 a few years ago.
Oh, and I could (and did) apply for a "Senior Citizens Railcard".

My retirement age is receding into the future, my pension is becoming worth less and less, so I don't know how I will survive on it.

No kids because when I might have had them I had a really nasty bad back and pregnancy wasn't an option for me. Plus at the time overpopulation was a worry....

I don't know why they don't just shoot us when we are of no further economic use...

As I say, just melt away then nobody has the hassle of dealing with us , we've served our purpose, either propping up economy/populating the country at our costs kow towing to men for most of our lives due to lack of acknowledgement of our worth.why don't we just 'go away'?

I actually feel more sorry for young parents who do not have a lot of money to spare and have to pay for prescriptions and medicines when they are sick. Same for bus passes. When I had young children I had to go without medicine and walk everywhere because I couldn't afford either. The money I saved would go on Calpol for my eldest child who had constant ear infections