Fury as over 60s to lose free NHS prescriptions due to state pension rule | Personal Finance | Finance

Barry, who is in 60s, added: “Having been forced into retirement seven years ago due to a stroke, my income dried up and my savings have long-since gone,

“Without free prescriptions I would almost certainly opt to miss some medicines thereby possibly making myself ill.”

Caroline Abrahams, Age UK’s charity director, explained: “This proposed policy is a kick in the teeth, both for poorly older people and the NHS.

“It is also extremely ill-judged, because the money the Government will save by scrapping free prescriptions for 60-65 years olds will almost certainly be outweighed by the additional costs to the NHS, if people fail to take their medication because they can’t afford it and become ill.

“We are already hearing some older people on multiple medicines saying they will have to choose which ones to drop, and others are expecting to ration how much they take.

“The problem is that treatments don’t work like that: if the prescribed dosage says one tablet every day it may not work at all if you only take it every two or three days.”