Spending too much on prescriptions?

Wonder_Girl

I just noticed I have never seen mentioned on this board Pre Payment Certificates (PPC) and just wondered if it was something people were aware of.

You can purchase PPC’s for 4 months (£34.65) and 12 months (£95.30)

You do have to pay upfront which is a pain but if your getting more than 1 prescription a month your going to save money. It work out at around £8-9 a month.

They only apply to one person but all of the prescriptions you get within the period you opted for are covered by this upfront fee and there is no limit.

For more info go here - http://www.ppa.org.uk/ppa/ppc_intro.htm

Hope this saves some of you a bit of cash

WG x

angeluk69_2

I think it has been discused many a time on here, but thank you, it is nice to have all the info about these as I have been enquiring about them foe while now.

Hootie19

I was paying between £30 and £40 a month for my prescriptions. I posted a thread on this forum along with my SOA and someone here mentioned them.

I bought a three month one, had it backdated a week, and went into the chemist on Friday and claimed back the £33 odd I'd spent the previous week. So it has almost paid for itself already.

Excellent thread - never hurts to bring this kind of thing to peoples' attention again!

ehallett

Thanks for that, it's just reminded me that mine is due up for renewal next month :rolleyes:

I really hate having to pay for that pre-payment card even though it does save me money. I take so many tablets a day (around 40-50! :eek: ) that it would cost me a fortune to buy them all seperately.

However, diabetics get their prescriptions for free because they need the medication to live. I really don't know what the goverment thinks would happen to me if I didn't take my medication!! The goverment refuses to allow people with Cystic Fibrosis to get free prescriptions.

Sorry, I'll get off my soap box now!!

KayEdwards

Further to the post re prescriptions, for anyone who is diabetic, you can get an exemption certificate meaning you don't pay for any prescriptions at all. You need to ask at your GP practice for an ememption form. You then also get eye tests free as you are at risk of eye changes. There are other exemption clauses but it seems to be people with diabetes that are regularly not told about it.

Hope it saves someone a few bob!

Kay

(Sorry I think we posted about the same time there ehallett, I agree with you on your point about CF)

Gemmzie

ehallett wrote:

Thanks for that, it's just reminded me that mine is due up for renewal next month :rolleyes:

I really hate having to pay for that pre-payment card even though it does save me money. I take so many tablets a day (around 40-50! :eek: ) that it would cost me a fortune to buy them all seperately.

However, diabetics get their prescriptions for free because they need the medication to live. I really don't know what the goverment thinks would happen to me if I didn't take my medication!! The goverment refuses to allow people with Cystic Fibrosis to get free prescriptions.

Sorry, I'll get off my soap box now!!

I agree, it's a very, very odd system.

I don't think this would save me much as I have health insurance, will have to number crunch

Bossyboots

Gemmzie wrote:

I agree, it's a very, very odd system.

I don't think this would save me much as I have health insurance, will have to number crunch

Does your health insurance cover prescriptions though, because mine doesn't. My consultant only issues private prescriptions too so my GP re-writes them as NHS ones for me so I can get them under my PPC.

livinginhope

It's all very well having a pre pay prescription if you can afford it!,I too need at least 4 separate prescriptions/month for pain relief,this is aside all the other 'we'll give this a go LIH,oh ok then how a this tablet,that cream etc etc!
I normally end up with about 9 scripts/month,I cannot afford this,but because I do not get a break from meds,I am unable to save for a pre pay certificate,I sometimes don't take meds in case I can't afford the next prescription,I will wait until I am in far too much pain and screaming before i get the tablets out,I know this doesn't do any good but when you are desperate it has to be done,after 5 years my GP has now started to give me a 2 month prescription for codeine,apparantly they are not supposed to do this as it's highly addictive!
My mother started talking about christmas yesterday and asked if there was anything I would dearly like,no hesitation I asked for a pre pay certificate,she said 'no I mean dearly like' I said again pre pay as it would make life so much better for us,also it would give me time to save for next years,she has agreed,yeah!

Bossyboots

livinginhope wrote:

It's all very well having a pre pay prescription if you can afford it!,I too need at least 4 separate prescriptions/month for pain relief,this is aside all the other 'we'll give this a go LIH,oh ok then how a this tablet,that cream etc etc!
I normally end up with about 9 scripts/month,I cannot afford this,but because I do not get a break from meds,I am unable to save for a pre pay certificate,I sometimes don't take meds in case I can't afford the next prescription,I will wait until I am in far too much pain and screaming before i get the tablets out,I know this doesn't do any good but when you are desperate it has to be done,after 5 years my GP has now started to give me a 2 month prescription for codeine,apparantly they are not supposed to do this as it's highly addictive!
My mother started talking about christmas yesterday and asked if there was anything I would dearly like,no hesitation I asked for a pre pay certificate,she said 'no I mean dearly like' I said again pre pay as it would make life so much better for us,also it would give me time to save for next years,she has agreed,yeah!

A pre-payment certificate is less than the cost of 6 meds. If you are going to get six of your prescriptions filled in one month then you would be paying £39.90 whereas the PPC is less than that. This will then cover you for four months, giving you time to save for the next one and in fact if you are getting that many prescriptions at the end of the first four month period you should have saved enough to but a 12 month one. Three 4 month certificates are only £10 a year more than a 12 month if you can't manage that in one go but it does sound at the moment as you are already paying more in one month for prescriptions than a four month PPC.

Jolinar

KayEdwards wrote:

Further to the post re prescriptions, for anyone who is diabetic, you can get an exemption certificate meaning you don't pay for any prescriptions at all.

This also applies to anyone with an under or over active Thyroid

full-time-mum

ehallett wrote:

However, diabetics get their prescriptions for free because they need the medication to live. I really don't know what the goverment thinks would happen to me if I didn't take my medication!! The goverment refuses to allow people with Cystic Fibrosis to get free prescriptions.

Sorry, I'll get off my soap box now!!

Can I join you on the soap box? This makes me mad too - OH has drugs for asthma and wouldn't be here without them but he still pays. Know someone with a colostomy who gets free prescriptions - did write to MP once but didn't get a satisfactory answer.