NHS prescriptions – who could get them for free? 15 groups qualify for help | Personal Finance | Finance
Up to 15 groups of Britons qualify for help towards medical costs which includes free prescriptions. Those who are exempt include people on low incomes to those who suffer certain medical conditions.
At £9.35 per prescription item, NHS costs can soon add up, however some people could be entitled to help towards this.
Britons who suffer from certain medical conditions should also qualify for free prescriptions and be sent a medical exemption certificate.
People on certain Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits like Universal Credit should be exempt from paying if they earn less than a certain amount.
However, not everyone who receives Universal Credit will qualify.
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Britons should also qualify for free prescriptions and help towards dental care if they receive income support, income based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income related Employment and Support Allowance and Pension Credit.
However, nearly one million (850 000) pensioners aren’t taking up Pension Credit despite the fact that millions of pensioners are living in poverty according to Age UK.
Even if Pension Credit only tops up someone’s income by a few pounds a week it enables older people to benefit from things like free prescriptions and a free TV licence for the over 75s.
Anyone who is struggling financially but doesn’t qualify for benefits should consider investing in a Pre-Payment Certificate (PPC).
The health conditions which qualify for a free Medical Exemption Certificate are:
- 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 you cannot go out without the help of another person (temporary disabilities do not count, even if they last for several months).
