UK Edition
A £300m “tax on the sick” will result in cash-strapped pensioners in England going without medical care and heap pressure on the NHS, campaigners have warned.
Doctors, pharmacists and charities have opposed Government plans to scrap free NHS prescriptions for anyone under the age of 66.
Currently, senior citizens become eligible for free prescriptions at age 60, but the change would mean free prescriptions kicking in at the same time as the state pension.
The Government said the proposed move, announced in July, would free up £300m by 2027. It said these funds could be used to help the NHS recover from the pandemic. Prescription charges are a major source of revenue for the health service, generating almost £3bn between 2015 and 2020. A consultation on the proposals is expected to close today.
It would be the first time the age limit has changed since 1974 for women and 1995 for men.
But Thorrun Govind of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, a trade body, called the cash-saving plan a “tax on the sick”.
“It is unacceptable to raise the cost of prescriptions in the current economic situation when many have been disadvantaged by the pandemic. Such proposals will only further drive the health inequalities that have been highlighted by Covid-19.
“We would like to see the complete abolition of prescription charges in England, whatever the age group, as is the case in Scotland and Wales," he said.
Prof. Martin Marshall of the Royal College of General Practitioners, another professional body, said the policy would “disproportionately affect a large group of patients who are on low incomes but just above the threshold for financial help with the costs of their medication” and said it would discourage poorer patients seeking medical help early on.
Caroline Abrahams of the charity Age UK said this would put extra pressure on the NHS later down the line and would end up costing the NHS more in the long run.
Prescriptions typically cost close to £10 per item and the cost can quickly mount for those who need multiple medications each month.
Meanwhile, Britain has the worst mandatory pension provision of all 36 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which includes America, Australia, Canada and all major European nations, with the state pension paying out less than £180 a week.
The Government said it was “committed to supporting" the NHS and said the “challenging economic landscape” meant it was focused on ensuring public sector spending represented good value for taxpayers’ money.
It said the change was needed to cut the costs of supporting an ageing population, although it has considered a grace period so people aged between 60 and 65 are not hit straight away.
Anyone hit by the regime change can save money on medicines via prescription prepayment certificates. A 12-month certificate costs £108.10 and can save users up to £340 a year if they have regular prescriptions.