Spending too much on prescriptions?

Gemmzie

Bossyboots wrote:

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.

Yes, £33 per years worth, which is 5 I think

flis21

This is fantastic, I didn't know about this. I get 2-3 prescriptions per month and I am going to be on these tablets for quite a while. I got my last prescriptions a week ago, but will buy one of these certificates before my next lot of prescriptions need filling. Will make it a lot easier, as I always worry where the money is going to come from, particularly if I get extra meds one month (have been trying different types of med to find one that works).

Thanks for this, really will help me out.

full-time-mum

Bossyboots wrote:

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.

OH 'plays' the system.

1 Pay for your 1st batch of prescriptions, getting a reciept
2 Wait until it is nearly too late to reclaim
3 Apply for pre-payment certificate and claim for prescriptions
4 Should now be about time to order next months lot - get these in
5 At the end of the 3 months you order you drugs for the following month.
6 When you next need prescriptions, go back to 1 and repeat process.

In this way, you are getting 4 months supply for the cost of 3 months.

I haven't worked out whether this is worth doing if you have lots and lots of drugs but in OH position, he doesn't quite get enough to make it worthwhile pre-paying normally but if he needs prescriptions for other reasons then it is usually worth the hassle. He makes a point of stocking up on everything whilst on the pre-payment exemption.

Hope this makes sense!

looby75

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!!

It was the same with my sister, she had a heart transplant and had to pay for her anti rejection / blood pressure drugs, if she didn't take them she would die as simple as that, yet my nan who is diabetic takes exactly the same drug my sister did (but for another reason) and she gets it for free! It's just stupid.

Bossyboots

full-time-mum wrote:

OH 'plays' the system.

1 Pay for your 1st batch of prescriptions, getting a reciept
2 Wait until it is nearly too late to reclaim
3 Apply for pre-payment certificate and claim for prescriptions
4 Should now be about time to order next months lot - get these in
5 At the end of the 3 months you order you drugs for the following month.
6 When you next need prescriptions, go back to 1 and repeat process.

In this way, you are getting 4 months supply for the cost of 3 months.

I haven't worked out whether this is worth doing if you have lots and lots of drugs but in OH position, he doesn't quite get enough to make it worthwhile pre-paying normally but if he needs prescriptions for other reasons then it is usually worth the hassle. He makes a point of stocking up on everything whilst on the pre-payment exemption.

Hope this makes sense!

I managed in my first year to only buy two 4 month PPCs and by careful managing of my repeats got through the 12 months. However, I have now had another item added which I can only get one month at a time so my ability to stock pile has changed. I worked out that in this coming quarter I will be getting 14 prescriptions so decided that I might as well get the whole year one and be done with it. If I hadn't had the other script added I wouldn't have renewed my PPC until October and played the system the same way again.

jobbingmusician

Bossyboots, wouldn't it be cheaper to get your 'one month at a time' prescription as a one off in the months not covered by your scheme above, and continue with the previous scheme?

freda

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!

Theres an easier way!

Next month, keep receipts for all of the prescriptions you pay for. Then, all you need to do is to claim them back against the cost of the prepayment certificate (you do this at the post office, they give you cash back). Hey presto, pre-payment certificate effectively for free, and no more prescription charges which will let you save for the next one, and let your mum give you something else for xmas!

Bossyboots

freda wrote:

Theres an easier way!

Next month, keep receipts for all of the prescriptions you pay for. Then, all you need to do is to claim them back against the cost of the prepayment certificate (you do this at the post office, they give you cash back). Hey presto, pre-payment certificate effectively for free, and no more prescription charges which will let you save for the next one, and let your mum give you something else for xmas!

The only problem with this is that LIH will be paying for the meds and then paying for the certificate. There is no point in that. If you are going to go to the chemist with six prescriptions to be filled then you might as well order the PPC online and save money instantly. There is only £10 difference between 3 x 4 month PPC and a 12 month one so if you cannot afford the 12 month one even buying three during the year is achievable at the level that LIH appears to be paying for medications on a monthly basis.

Also, you cannot just keep the receipts to claim the money back. You need a form FP57 which the pharmacist completes AT THE TIME you get the scripts filled. Without that you cannot claim the money back. This also relies on you getting the PPC backdated to the date of the first FP57 as you can only claim back amounts paid out on or after the start date. You can have the PPC backdated up to one month from the date of application.

Hootie19

freda wrote:

Next month, keep receipts for all of the prescriptions you pay for. Then, all you need to do is to claim them back against the cost of the prepayment certificate (you do this at the post office, they give you cash back).

Make sure you get an FP57 receipt (check this out - I may have the number wrong. anyway it's an A4 sized blue sheet) with the pharmacy stamp on it when you pay for the prescription.

I have just done this, and once I'd got my pre-payment certificate through the post, I had to go back to the pharmacy I got the prescription from - NOT the post office - and they refunded me the cash.

So you have to "double pay" for a while, by buying the certificate as well as paying for your prescriptions, but it's very quick to claim your money back (in fact, the pharmacy I used didn't even ask to see the certificate, just checked that I'd ticked the box saying I have one).

If you do this - don't forget to backdate the start date of your certificate to the day of the first receipt you will be claiming back. I don't know how far back you can ask for the certificate to start - mine was only a week.



ETA - sorry posted at the same time as bossyboots!

Firefly

Hootie19 wrote:

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!

It might have been me! It's 4 months Hootie, so even more for your money! Just make sure you ask for a repeat prescription for anything you may need just before it's due to run out then you don't need to get another one for a few weeks, rather than buy one to run into another. I have worked out I can probably manage with two per year, covering 8 months out of 12.

You can backdate a certificate by up to a month. ALWAYS ask for a receipt.