Free NHS prescription age under threat – 9 health conditions who will still qualify | Personal Finance | Finance
Laura Cockram, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Parkinson’s UK and Chair of the Prescription Charges Coalition said the proposal to link prescription charges to the state pension age would be “a disaster” for tens of thousands of people “who may face a new barrier to accessing their vital medicines”.
She added: “Increasing the time that those living with long-term conditions like Parkinson’s, asthma and multiple sclerosis have to pay by six years will add to the existing burden of ever-increasing prescriptions charges, especially since many of these people will have multiple medications.
“If these become unaffordable, the risk of ill-health increases, potentially seeing people rely on overstretched hospitals.”
There are 15 groups of people who can get free NHS prescriptions, with this currently including over 60s.
Some people with certain medical conditions can get a valid medical exemption certificate, but not all long-term conditions qualify.
The NHS explains the certificates are issued if a person has:
- Cancer, including the effects of cancer or the effects of current or previous cancer treatment
- A permanent fistula (for example, a laryngostomy, colostomy, ileostomy or some renal dialysis fistulas) requiring continuous surgical dressing or an appliance
- A form of hypoadrenalism (for example, Addison’s disease) for which specific substitution therapy is essential
- Diabetes insipidus or other forms of hypopituitarism
- Diabetes mellitus, except where treatment is by diet alone
- Hypoparathyroidism
- Myasthenia gravis
- Myxoedema (hypothyroidism requiring thyroid hormone replacement)
- Epilepsy requiring continuous anticonvulsive therapy
- A continuing physical disability that means a person cannot go out without the help of another person (temporary disabilities do not count, even if they last for several months).
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The move to scrap free prescriptions for over-60s has been criticised nationwide.
Many argue that it affects those individuals who need multiple medicines the most, since they are managing several serious long-term health conditions, like hypertension or heart disease.
“Worryingly, we also know that thousands of people are already having to choose between food and medications. This simply should not be a decision that people have to make, even more so as they wait for treatment, with waiting lists getting ever longer due to the coronavirus pandemic,” said Ms Cockram.
“The impact when people struggle to afford essential medication should not be underestimated. For instance, people with Parkinson’s lose an average of two and a half hours a day to debilitating symptoms when their medication naturally wears off. If they were forced to reduce doses to make it last, or to stop it altogether, life would be unmanageable.”
People with serious health conditions could limit the total cost of their prescriptions regardless of their age by purchasing a Prescription Prepayment Certificate (PPC).
This costs £108.10 for a year of free prescriptions.
Those on low income, that is via certain Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits and tax credits and the NHS Low Income Scheme, are exempt from paying for prescriptions. This includes expectant or new mothers.
On April 1, 2021, the prescription charge increased by 20 pence, from £9.15 to £9.35, a rise of 2.1 percent in line with inflation.
At the time, the Prescription Charges Coalition said on its current trajectory, the charge could hit £10.15 by 2025.
