Paying NI and paying for prescriptions...

[Allen]

Does anyone know why we pay a fair amount of NI if we also have to pay ~£6 for our subscriptions?

I need an injection for my hayfever, I can't help it, I was born with it. It's not my fault and it can't be cured, so instead of paying a fortune for tablets and sprays that don't actually work for me, I have to have an injection. Luckily, it's only once a year, but this tiny little syringe (worth pennies) has 40ml of Kenalog in it (also probably worth pennies) costs around £6 bloody pounds! What's that all about?

I would just be interested to know, as there are lots of knowledgable people on here, what our NI goes towards if it doesn't go towards this, and also where the money from our prescriptions go to?

[Skii]

Count yourself lucky mate

My Asthma medication cost me £13 a month.

Breathing ain't cheap.

[DavidM]

I generally ask the chemist if theres a cheaper option than perscription drugs... in most cases there is. Not, unfortunaltey, in the above 2 cases.

[Agent]

A friend at uni has the same.
She has to pay for her asthma medication, yet when she went and asked to go on the pill, she got it for free :\

Thankfully, i only have light asthma so it doesnt work out expensive for me, but thats becides the point

[Elmo]

diabetes sufferers and heart patients have to pay for all their prescriptions too.

You can however, pay a certain amount for a whole year and that's you for as many prescriptions you need for that year. I dont know the ins n outs of it tho, cos i only really have to pay for 2 or 3 prescriptions a year

The pill is free as long as it's used as contraception (but you can lie on the prescription form if it isnt and just tick the box anyway) as all contraception is free, unless you're picky about the condoms you use ofcourse, although i do believe durex should be free and made widely available too...

[Allen]

Believe me, I'm not complaining, I'm just interested to know where my NI has been going for the past 7 years and why I have to pay £6 per prescription on top of that?

[5lab]

do you know how much prescriptions actually cost? some drugs can cost up to 2 or 3 GRAND per prescription for the NHS. the money you pay back to them is pennies - it simply stops you taking drugs you don't need, which would otherwise cost them a fortune.

i believe you can get some discount or 'subscription' if you are on a lot of drugs.. i may be wrong thou

[Lee H]

Pre-pay Certificates are fairly cheap really @ 4 months £33.90 and 12 months £93.20
respectively.

If you get 1 prescription a month then the certificates are not really value for money but for 2 Prescriptions a month you will be paying £52 over a 4 month period.

To really save cash on essential "drugs" like hayfever remedies or painkillers then swap to generic no-name branded as a pack of 12 Neurofen tablets costs around £1.39 (approx) , while a generic equivalent is available for a third of the cost.

[shiato storm]

silly really, in order to actually survive it costs money...another great service brought to you by a government somewhere behind a heavily reinforced door having done their degrees and recieving private healthcare thanks to everyone else like you and me...

[Theo]

I'd guess that research by the pharm companies costs a fair bit. So at least some of their proceeds will go towards that. And Porsches for executives, of course.

[Elmo]

was gunna say, some of us have gone through a degree so we can discover and improve drugs for you. The chemicals used to make them can cost £100 for a GRAM, in fact, some chemicals can cost over £1k for a g.

Ofcourse, chemists and pharmacologists tend to look for the cheapest and quickest, most efficient way of making the drugs, but sometimes, it costs alot. For instance, a few of the new anti-cancer drugs, which look promising, have platinum in them. Platinum being an expensive precious metal, will cost ALOT of money to produce these drugs commercially!

However, on the other hand, if you want to make a wad of cash for not v.much work, you want to get into circulatory drug and coronary drug development. So many people use them, especially here in britain and in america, and they're so simple to make and there's a huge profit to be made.

So although you might pay £6 for a prescription that costs pennies to make, you're helping someone else get their anti-cancer drugs.

[Swafe]

Elmos right, a lot are platinum based, even though you dont eat shiny metal pills , thats why they cost so much !

The 6 quid flat fee is good and bad in its own ways, if you just have a cold then its probably best just to get some mixture for a few quid and save your GP the hassel, maybe this is why they charge 6 quid ? Making people with just niggling problems save the GPs time, but if you have a bad condition, say cancer, or, well I dont know what but something that requires exspensive drugs (My dad used to take some sort of pills, they cost 20 quid each apprently, and he got them in packs of 14, for 6 quid) then you think about it, then their heaviliy subsidesed.

I think its a bit out of order myself for them to charge you NI for your health, tax, that goes on the NHS, then have the cheek to charge you for a prescription, but if your drugs cost say 100 quid a dose, 6 quid is good for you, as the government are paying most of it !

[poindextermatic]

The pill is free as long as it's used as contraception (but you can lie on the prescription form if it isnt and just tick the box anyway) as all contraception is free, unless you're picky about the condoms you use ofcourse, although i do believe durex should be free and made widely available too...

I used to get hundreds of free condoms (and went back for more ) when I was a randy wipper; just walk into your local 'family planning' clinic and ask them for some, they may ask a gew questions but they will not let you leave empty handed...they are obliged to help you not get yourself/girlfriend pregnant...

[Elmo]

exactly, which is why i said "unless you're picky about the condoms you use" cos it's usually Mates or some unbranded condom they hand out free, whereas you have to pay extortionate prices for Durex if you want a "wider selection".

[poindextermatic]

exactly, which is why i said "unless you're picky about the condoms you use" cos it's usually Mates or some unbranded condom they hand out free, whereas you have to pay extortionate prices for Durex if you want a "wider selection".

Sorry, I thought they were all elastic!

[tiggerai]

I love wales sometimes

Free prescriptions up until you're 25 )

(i knew there was a reason a welsh university was better)
ESP with the week I've had... tonsilitis at the weekend, and now i'm in a collar for flippin' whiplash.