Prescription charges

In the English NHS charges are made for prescription drugs, and the majority of adults are required to pay them. Charges were abolished in NHS Wales in 2007, Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland in 2010 and by NHS Scotland in 2011. In 2010/11, in England, £450m was raised through prescription charges, some 0.5% of the total NHS budget.^[1]

History

When the National Health Service was established in 1948 all prescriptions were free. The power to make a charge was introduced in the NHS Amendment Act 1949, and proposals for charges were a factor in the resignation of Aneurin Bevan from the Labour Government in 1951.^[2] Charges were introduced in 1952, by the Conservative government, at a rate of 1 shilling per prescription. There were exemptions for people in receipt of National Assistance or War Disability Pension, children under 16 or at school, and venereal disease patients.^[3] In 1956 the rules were changed so that a charge applied to each item prescribed. In 1961 it was doubled to 2 s. Charges were abolished by the Wilson Government on 1 February 1965, but reintroduced on 10 June 1968 at the higher rate of 2s 6d, but with a wider range of exemptions. As of 2015, the prescription charge is £8.20.^[4]

Prescription charges and exemptions are administered by the NHS Business Services Authority.

The existing list of medical exemptions is essentially a list of conditions for which long-term life-saving medication was available in 1968, and it has never been revised since. The policy on prescription charges has been dismissed as a "dog's dinner" by the Social Market Foundation, who said in 2003 that the current rules on who pays for medicines and who does not are unfair and illogical.^[5]

In 2007, a survey conducted by Ipsos Mori found that 800,000 people failed to collect a prescription during 2007 due to cost.^[6]

In 2008 88% of patients in England got medicines free.^[7]

Gordon Brown introduced an exemption for cancer patients in 2009, and promised free prescriptions for people with long-term conditions.^[8]

Jeremy Hunt announced a scheme to help reduce waste and encourage patients to complete courses of medicine in July 2015. Any drug that costs the NHS more than £20 will be marked with a label stating that they have been "funded by the UK taxpayer", along with the total price that the prescription costs the health service.^[9]

Exemptions

Now prescriptions are free for:

• children under 16,
• people 16-18 and in full-time education,
• people who get some Means-tested benefits,
• people over 60,
• women who are pregnant or have had a baby in the previous 12 months and have a valid maternity exemption certificate (MatEx)
• people who have a certificate (HC2) entitling them to help under the NHS Low Income Scheme. An HC3 certificate gives some help but not exemption from charges.

Medical exemptions

Patients with any of these conditions who have a valid medical exemption certificate (MedEx) are entitled to free prescriptions, for all conditions, not merely the qualifying condition:

• Epilepsy needing continuous therapy
• a permanent fistula
• diabetes mellitus
• myxoedema
• hypoparathyroidism
• diabetes insipidus or hypopituitarism
• Addison’s disease and other forms of hypoadrenalism
• Myasthenia Gravis
• any continuing physical disability which stops them going out alone
• undergoing treatment for cancer, including the effects of cancer, or the effects of current or previous cancer treatment

Medical Exemption Certificates last for five years or until the 60th birthday, whichever is sooner. A Certificate does not provide help with the cost of NHS wigs or fabric supports.

Medicines administered at an NHS hospital or an NHS walk-in centre, personally administered by a GP, contraceptives or supplied at a hospital or clinic for the treatment of a sexually transmitted infection or tuberculosis are always free.

War pensioners do not pay if the prescription is for their war disability.

Penalties

A person who falsely claims exemption is liable for a penalty charge, which is five times what they should have paid, up to a maximum of £100, plus the original charge itself. If they do not prove entitlement to help with health costs, and do not pay the amount stated in the penalty charge notice, the NHS may take court action to recover the debt. The penalty charge is increased by 50 per cent of the penalty charge if they do not pay within 28 days of the date the penalty charge notice is sent.

Other ways of paying less than the full prescription charge

For those who do not qualify for free prescriptions, Prescription Prepayment Certificates (PPC) are available.^[10] They are worthwhile if more than 12 prescriptions are needed in a year. They can be paid for by 10 monthly direct debit instalment payments. There are also three-month PPCs which are worthwhile if you need more than 3 prescriptions in 3 months. If you buy a PPC and later become exempt from prescription charges, the amount of the refund you can claim depends on the length of your PPC and when and how your circumstances change.^[11]

Some medicines do not cost as much as a prescription charge, and can be bought from the same pharmacist.

Refunds

Refunds are available "Where any person who is entitled to a repayment of any charge paid under the Charges Regulations presents an NHS pharmacist with a valid claim for the repayment within three months of the date on which the charge was paid, the NHS pharmacist must make the repayment.” (Regulation 96 of the NHS (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013).

If a patient is unsure if they are entitled to free prescriptions, to avoid a fine they should pay for their prescription and request an FP57 Refund and Receipt Form. A refund can then be claimed within three months if they are in fact exempt.

Refunds do not have to be made by the pharmacy, hospital or other NHS organisation that issued the FP57 that can be obtained through any NHS England pharmacy on presentation of a valid FP57 along with proof of exemption.

Further information for patients can be found at www.nhs.uk/healthcosts.

See also

Prescription drug

References

External links

• Help with health costs
• NHS Business Services Authority