"Eliminating a small co-payment appears to have had a substantial effect on patients’ risk of being hospitalised. Given the small amount of revenue gathered from the charges, and the comparative large costs of hospitalisations, the results suggest that these charges are likely to increase the overall cost of healthcare, as well as exacerbate ethnic inequalities."

#PaulineNorris, 2023

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-09011-0

#health #PrescriptionCharges

#Today marks the launch of the HRT PPC. Of the 4 hormones I have for HRT, only two of them are covered on the HRT PPC. I may be better off doing a normal PPC.
My progesterone and testosterone are not included. I feel rather miffed that I have to continue to pay for my own hormones back.
Plus, it was supposed to be free, but I suppose £18 ish is an improvement.
#HRT #PPC #PrescriptionCharges #Medication #Hormones #Menopause #Perimenopause

Some health conditions exempt from #PrescriptionCharges. The list of conditions created in 1968 doesn’t include #CysticFibrosis because at that time children with the condition did not survive into adulthood. The list hasn’t been revised despite many similar changes.
Please sign this #petition to, hopefully, persuade government to do something useful and correct this historical anomaly.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/633794

A while back I filled in a consultation about prescription charges. I also signed a petition to HMG not to raise the eligibility age. Well, looks like sometimes petitions can be part of change: "The Government has DITCHED plans to raise the age for free prescriptions to 66-years-old which would have forced millions of people to start paying for medicines."
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/over-60s-keep-free-prescriptions-29475149
#prescriptionCharges #petition

#English #PrescriptionCharges

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/feb/13/patients-not-collecting-prescriptions-because-of-cost-england-pharmacists