Why am I being penalized?

Bubbles911

shazza71 wrote: »

I really know where your coming from bubbles, up until 3 weeks ago we were living off £180 a week, thats for me, hubby and 2 teenage sons.. might sound okay to some people but we have had a good wage coming in for years so lived appropriately, now we are losing about £400 per WEEK..its nigh on impossible to live on this kind of money, considering the price of food, bills etc...we are now on £200 a week for 4 but its still impossible to do it, i have 2 children to send to school and college, which costs £33 a week, on top of £60 for gas and electric so it doesnt leave much for anything else.My husband cant afford to get his medication the doctor gives him...wheras if he`d never worked for years it would have been free...dont care what anyone else thinks, its a bloody disgrace the way the ESA system works...

Thank you Shazza. I was in tears thinking I was a bad peson for wanting my teeth done when I am too ill to work to pay for them. I felt like I was being unreasonabe so I am so glad to read your post and know someone else understands. In your case you may be able to qualify for HC1 (unless you are working?) to get free health care for you and your husband but in my case they dont accept board as a expense as I live with family. Really, I think the way ESA is done is stupid, everyone should have it means tested whether they have paid contrbutions or not - that way people with millions in the bank wouldnt get ESAC and everyone would be entitled to health costs. People on esa whichever part are ill so should get help if JSA gets it free.

Bubbles911

daska wrote: »

Did you not read the posts? I don't even have a partner at the moment, let alone one who earns £30K. All the way through this has been about people who would qualify for ESA (IR) except for the fact that they qualify for ESA (CB).

I've pointed out more than once that the DWP told me I was not eligible for free prescriptions etc because I had been awarded ESA (CB) until, with NASA's help, I got them to admit that I was entitled to free prescriptions because I had an underlying entitlement to ESA (IR).

Given the context I think it's understood that I meant that both claimants were in the same financial position.

So let's spell it out:

2 people, both in exactly the same emotional, sexual and financial position with same number of dependents, living in identical accomodation and wearing pink knickers (have I missed anything)

person 1 has worked PAYE and made NI contributions

person 2 hasn't (for whatever reason)

both claim ESA

person 1 gets ESA (CB) at £89/week

person 2 gets ESA (IR) at £89/week plus free prescriptions, plus free dental care, plus reduced leisure facilities, plus reduced price music lessons for their child etc etc etc

According to the DWP I was person 1, until with NASA's help I discovered that actually I am person 1 and person 2.

I couldnt agree with your post more!

daska

Bubbles911 wrote: »

Thank you Shazza. I was in tears thinking I was a bad peson for wanting my teeth done when I am too ill to work to pay for them. I felt like I was being unreasonabe so I am so glad to read your post and know someone else understands. In your case you may be able to qualify for HC1 (unless you are working?) to get free health care for you and your husband but in my case they dont accept board as a expense as I live with family. Really, I think the way ESA is done is stupid, everyone should have it means tested whether they have paid contrbutions or not - that way people with millions in the bank wouldnt get ESAC and everyone would be entitled to health costs. People on esa whichever part are ill so should get help if JSA gets it free.

Have you tried ringing them and asking to apply for ESA (IR)? The girl on the phone was very condescending until my support worker asked for an ESA3 form to be sent out and then her tune changed. Try it, you might find that you have an 'underlying entitlement' like I do. Fingers crossed for you.

Bubbles911

until your post I was not aware I could do this! Might give it a try tomorrow.

shazza71_2

NOOOOO bubbles you are not a bad person, me and my hubby feel exactly the same as you, you pay your contributions but hell you have to pay for it if you stop working. at the moment we have a potential payment of £1350 from the tax credits, but we can only have it if our circumsatnces dont change by April..We are living below our "needs allowance" but we still cannot have the money until April... the whole system is a disgrace, and the gouvernment tlk about bringing people out of POVERTY....Jesus christ do they know how much food is nowdays..i found an old asda receipt off 2 yrs ago and a tin of corned beef was 38p, now we r lucky to get one for a £1 a tin...its madness

Fire_Fox

Bubbles911 wrote: »

My drugs include morphine and I attempted suicide using these and am still in a fragile state so they are locked away with my mum administering them but they still wont issue enough to kill me if I get my hands on them. I am currently being assessed as to the way forward.

Many years ago I was a pharmacy technician. It is possible to have a prescription for a large amount of a controlled substance which is only dispensed by the pharmacy piecemeal - think of those of methadone going for their daily dose. This costs the NHS more but shouldn't cost the patient more as you pay for one drug on one script. I have seen it done with anti-depressants on a weekly basis, in order to prevent someone in a fragile state taking an overdose.

Bubbles911

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Many years ago I was a pharmacy technician. It is possible to have a prescription for a large amount of a controlled substance which is only dispensed by the pharmacy piecemeal - think of those of methadone going for their daily dose. This costs the NHS more but shouldn't cost the patient more as you pay for one drug on one script. I have seen it done with anti-depressants on a weekly basis, in order to prevent someone in a fragile state taking an overdose.

Thanks for this, the many tablets I am on include anti depressants and when my mum mentioned to the doctor that she was scared of having large doses of morphine in the house he gave her a smaller dose which costs more but only provides 2 days relief!

shazza71_2

Daska i may give them a call about ESA3 form, TBH i dont have much hope, there just isnt enough help out there for us, one man from JSP said just because our letter said CB ESA didnt mean thats what we were actually getting, they all tell us different things, and its no wonder we are not receiving the right benefits, ..

Lou76

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Many years ago I was a pharmacy technician. It is possible to have a prescription for a large amount of a controlled substance which is only dispensed by the pharmacy piecemeal - think of those of methadone going for their daily dose. This costs the NHS more but shouldn't cost the patient more as you pay for one drug on one script. I have seen it done with anti-depressants on a weekly basis, in order to prevent someone in a fragile state taking an overdose.

Fire Fox, I'm so glad you posted that.

I was reading through the thread and debating replying to suggest the OP ask their pharmacist if they offered this service, but I didn't like to incase I was offering misleading advice. I'm glad you had already replied before I had to make that decision. :rotfl:

Bubbles911 wrote: »

Thanks for this, the many tablets I am on include anti depressants and when my mum mentioned to the doctor that she was scared of having large doses of morphine in the house he gave her a smaller dose which costs more but only provides 2 days relief!

Bubbles, I can't see why they couldn't allow you to do this. Don't get me wrong, as I've posted above, I don't know for sure that they will, but I know my local chemist offered me this service a few years ago and it wasn't even for 'proper' medication, it was Nicorette patches.

Basically, I had decided to ask the Dr if I could have patches on prescription. I was paying for my prescriptions in those days but it was still working out a lot cheaper than buying them privately. Funny how I was bothered about the [ridiculous] cost of patches but not for the tobacco I was buying every week. :think:

Anyway, when I went to collect the first prescription the chemist themselves asked if I wanted to take the whole months' worth away in one go, or collect it weekly over the 4 weeks. I opted for weekly as I felt that way I might see it through, the thought of turning up weekly and being asked how I was doing was a big incentive to actually use them daily and not give in. Being left to my own devices for the 4 weeks could've been a recipe for disaster

If they can hold onto prescriptions for patches, then I can't see why they would have a problem with someone in your situation.

If nothing else, it costs nothing to ask.

Good luck with that.

ETA: It didn't cost me any more for this, I just paid the standard prescription fee as normal.

daska

and this one raises it's ugly head again...

just had a call from the JC+ to tell me that while I have applied for and qualified for ESA (IR) there is no such thing as an underlying entitlement to it and therefore I don't qualify for cold weather payments or help with healthcare costs. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.....!

Apparently, according to the 'decision maker' the reason is that if the amount awarded for ESA (CB) is the same as the amount that would be awarded for ESA (IR) then it takes precedence over ESA (IR). This is because they need to make sure that the money comes out of the "correct pot".

I see no valid reason for imposing a financial penalty and making me liable for additional costs just because I have worked and paid my NI contributions. Their decision means that I am worse off than if I had sat on my bum and not bothered to go out to work.

So I've written to my MP. Anyone else care to join me?

BTW, I've deliberately not complicated the issue by talking about Self-Employed people. I am doing a direct comparison between someone who has paid NI conts and someone who has never worked. The fact that SE people also benefit is from this policy is not an issue for me.