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Why Do We Have To Pay For Prescribed Pills?


Muel

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Wife is ill at the moment, and she's being prescribed things to make her better again. These things are costing a bloody fortune.

Just interested really, seeing as TF can answer any question, why is this so? Should it be the case?

Contraceptive pills are free, but antibiotics aren't. Seems silly to me? Why do we pay taxes for a national health service if we then have to buy things as well?

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Because drugs been thrown away cost the tax man an estimated £150 million. Means you don't pick up prescriptions "just because you can". I'm on medication for the rest of my life and they still won't give it to me for free so don't complain about £8 every now and again lol

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jul/03/prescription-medicine-unused and thats on returned drugs alone.

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It's to encourage your 'wife' to man the f**k up.

f**k off. (Y)

Because drugs been thrown away cost the tax man an estimated £150 million. Means you don't pick up prescriptions "just because you can". I'm on medication for the rest of my life and they still won't give it to me for free so don't complain about £8 every now and again lol

Source: http://www.guardian....medicine-unused and thats on returned drugs alone.

Wasn't meant to come across as complaining at all, it's not my money lol. I have the good sense to never get ill. I was just interested as to why we have to pay twice for healthcare!

I thought that it might be to put people off for some reason, but I thought the rigmarole of booking an appointment, going to it and getting the prescription would put people off enough. Evidently not, that's me told lol.

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Because we pay for a service not actual medicine / products? What's the issue there? Makes perfect sense to me.

unless you can't afford it......

service is 'free' its all part of the nhs isn't it? surely your ability to recover from an illness should not be reated to your finantial situation.

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Because we pay for a service not actual medicine / products? What's the issue there? Makes perfect sense to me.

Never said there was an issue, just couldn't work it out lol. If you're in hospital, do you still have to pay for things? Or is it just certain drugs you have to pay for?

Edited by Muel
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service is 'free' its all part of the nhs isn't it? surely your ability to recover from an illness should not be reated to your finantial situation.

Its free if your on JSA / Income support, pregnant, thyroid related, under 18 - etc etc, if your working chances are you can afford £8 and if you can't then your probably better off on benefits.

Never said there was an issue, just couldn't work it out lol. If you're in hospital, do you still have to pay for things? Or is it just certain drugs you have to pay for?

You don't pay anything whilst inside hospital - (except for your tv - phone - internet - parking etc. all at redic rates) but guess thats because your prescribed drugs are brought to you in a little cup which you take while the nurses are there, not much chance of waste and you get brought your drugs at the time of day you need them, (I know I was on like 4 lots a day) so wouldn't make any sense.

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Yeah it's not related to the actual cost of the medication. A pack of Amoxicillin costs next to nothing from the manufacturer (<checks> 95p), but it's the cost of administering it, running the pharmacy etc. Also, some drugs are far more expensive than this, chemotherapy can run into thousands of pounds per month. The prescription charge was brought in to stop people abusing the system - asking to see their GP for a prescription of paracetamol because they were too tight to pay the 50p themselves. This wastes everyone's time, and the cost of the GP's time, surgery opening, the pharmacy etc was more the issue.

Simps - most people with long term conditions are covered by the exemptions, I'm assuming you've checked this as it's uncommon to need to pay for lifelong medication.

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Not sure, it's only 2 weeks worth of £8 so far, but I wasn't complaining about the money, just didn't add up in my head, now it makes sense though. :)

Feck living in the states! How much is health insurance per year?

Health insurance out here is criminal. My wife has a bunch of health issues due to not looking both ways before crossing the street, so she has her healthcare paid for by the state. We pay $1.10 co-pay for all her meds, and she gets everything else for free.

Mother in law also gets her health insurance paid for by the state because she has low income, although because of her income she has to pay bigger co pays $3-$5 and about $60 a month. She might also have to pay co pays at doctors visits, something like $10-$30.

I have no health insurance, my work offers it, but to be honest it's so expensive it's actually cheaper for me just to pay cash. It would be like $300 a month, wouldn't include meds, there's massive co pays and a bunch of other shit which basically means I'd have to pay up to $500 a year before they'd even cover anything. The only thing it's good for if if you get seriously ill or get into an accident.

Oh and also health insurance (unless it's from the state) doesn't cover pre-existing conditions. So because I've already been to the doctors to find out that I have PVC's, if I got insurance by work, I wouldn't be able to see a doctor about it, or get meds for it as I had it before getting insurance.

If I get cancer or something like that I'm flying home. :lol:

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f**k off. (Y)

Wasn't meant to come across as complaining at all, it's not my money lol. I have the good sense to never get ill. I was just interested as to why we have to pay twice for healthcare!

I thought that it might be to put people off for some reason, but I thought the rigmarole of booking an appointment, going to it and getting the prescription would put people off enough. Evidently not, that's me told lol.

You're not paying twice... Would you go to garage, get your bike/car inspected, and told whats wrong... Then expect them to fix it for nothing? No - you still need to pay for the stuff to fix it... Same as healthcare!

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Some drugs are only available through prescription, I take a fair whack of nerve pain killers which I obviously only pay my fixed prescription charge for (I actually have a pre paid prescription certificate so it costs a bit less), but the drugs in question cost a whole lot more per pack than I am paying.

Drugs companies have huge R&D costs in the drugs and a limited period of time to recoup these cost and make a profit, hence the reasoning some drugs cost silly silly amounts. Other drugs are a lot cheaper, but they're generally the older and more frequently used drugs that any pharmaceutical company can produce due to the patent rights having expired.

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I have no health insurance, my work offers it, but to be honest it's so expensive it's actually cheaper for me just to pay cash. It would be like $300 a month, wouldn't include meds, there's massive co pays and a bunch of other shit which basically means I'd have to pay up to $500 a year before they'd even cover anything. The only thing it's good for if if you get seriously ill or get into an accident.

Fortunately, you can predict major illnesses and accidents so you're OK. I suggest you take out that insurance policy the day before you crash your car (Y)

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