On 15/02/2013 08:14, RJH wrote:


Govt claims 88% don't pay - I would question that. And anecdotally
at least people don't use prescription medicine because of the cost.


The saga of prescription charges goes on!

If you are even slightly financially OK but medically not OK, and
subject to NHS prescription charges, it is likely worth capping your
outgoings by getting a Prescription Prepayment Certificate (PPC) at £104
a year. (Do government "don't pay" figures include PPC purchasers? After
all, they do not pay prescription by prescription.)

I take one medicine only and the NHS "cost" of that medicine is
marginally over £12 a year (one lot month). And this seems to correlate
with costs in other countries such as Spain, I am told, where it is an
over-the-counter medicine.

However, I and everyone else on this medicine qualify for a Medical
Exemption Certificate (Medex), so actually pay nothing. (And have the
benefit of not then paying for any other prescriptions.)

If I had to pay the full prescription charge of £7.65 twelve times a
year, I would be being ripped off by the system. (That is, being charged
almost £80 more than the NHS is charged for the medicine.)

Because of the system we have, I do not have the option of buying my own
as the charges for doing so are even more. Private prescriptions alone
are often expensive and yet a prescription is mandatory. And there is no
possibility of buying at anything like the NHS or Spanish prices. (I
base this on having seen the prices some people have been charged for
having private prescriptions filled for this medicine - though maybe
they did not shop around?)

It could actually be less expensive to purchase an equivalent from
abroad than to pay UK prescription charges. Without a prescription.
Unfortunately, most internet medicine suppliers relate their prices to
USA domestic prices. And this medicine is anomalously expensive in the
USA (almost certainly branding issues, etc.). But if I knew someone
willing in any of several European countries, they could pop it in an
envelope for me and I would pay much less than NHS prescription charges.

Considering the importance of some medicines, the idea that people have
to question which one(s) they might be able to afford this week or
month, even when the NHS costs are peanuts, is crazy and unfair.

--
Rod