I think you may qualify for a Medical exemption Certificate. One of the grounds by which people with certain medical conditions can get free NHS prescriptions is if they have a continuing physical disability which means the person cannot go out without the help of another person (temporary disabilities do not count even if they last for several months). If this is arguable in your case then I suggest you get a sympathetic doctor to supportan application. I cant believe this, I have one because I have diabetes which is another qualifying condition, despiter being in receipt of a teachers salary. I can say thatt no-one seems to be to quick to let you know about them; my doc never said anythingabout it until I asked directly.
Bex, sounds like you can complete the form FP92A yourself and just get a doc at the surgery to sign it as correct. If you are spending moey now, maybe you should make sure to ask for an official NHS receipt in case you are able to reclaim the cost. Probably no help to you but I used to ask my doc to prescribe a 3 months supply at a time. Same prescription cost as a 1 month supply, so saves a lot of money. Info below comes from the link:
If you suffer from one of the specified conditions ask for an application form FP92A, available from your doctor’s surgery. You need to fill in parts 1 and 2 and your doctor (or an authorised member of the practice staff) will sign to confirm the information you’ve given is correct.
The surgery will arrange to send completed application forms to our office, using pre-paid envelope PPAEXENV, at:
NHS Help With Health Costs
Medical Exemption
Bridge House
152 Pilgrim Street
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 6SN
We aim to process applications within 3 working days of receiving them. Where your GP has confirmed that you have one of the specified conditions, we will send you a certificate. For administrative convenience certificates are valid for 5 years, starting one month before the date on which the application is received.
If you have any queries, you can call our enquiry line on 0300 330 1341. Alternatively, complete our query form.
Refunds
If you have to pay for any prescriptions before your certificate arrives you may be able to claim a refund. Ask your pharmacist for an official NHS receipt.
If you are on a low income you can get full or partial help with all NHS charges including prescription charges, by completing form HC1 (HC1W in Wales) available from your local jobcentre plus offices, NHS hospitals, dentists, opticians and pharmacists, by phoning 0845 850 1166 or online from the NHS Business Services Authority website at www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk.
If your income is low enough you will be sent a certificate HC2 (HC2W in Wales) for full help or HC3 (HC3W in Wales) for partial help with NHS charges.
l have said over and over again on this forum that you can get a medical exemption certificate with ms. OK - it might not be ‘on the list’ - but ms is a progressive disease with no cure. l asked the receptionist at my doctors surgery for the form- HC1- and filled it in- and the GP also signed it. l was granted an exemption certificate within days. lf you don’t ask - you won’t get - and the sooner we all do it the better. At the time l got mine my husband was still working -it certainly was not a case of hardship. l just use to put a x in the box next to ‘exemption certificate’ and l did not have to pay for prescriptions. Never was l asked to show the certificate - and l certainly never renewed it. Now, l am over 60 - l have to put a x next to that - but if l have not got my glasses with me l have been known to cross the ‘war pensions’ or ‘pregnant’ box. Nothing to do with not being able to afford the prescriptions - and certainly nothing to do with not being able to get to the surgery or pharmacy.
When l asked my - then - GP she said she did not know if l could but she could not see a reason why. So why don’t you all try it.
Frances, you were lucky your GP was willing to break the rules for you - because that is what she has done - or certainly turned a blind eye to them. There’s certainly no general provision for unnamed conditions that just happen to be progressive or incurable. I wouldn’t feel comfortable asking my doctor to sign things I know I’m not entitled to - I think it puts her in an awkward position.
I don’t think it’s fair that diabetes qualifies, whilst MS doesn’t, but I can see that the distinction is probably the difference between drugs that are needed to preserve life (diabetes), and those that only treat symptoms (MS). I’m pretty sure I’ve signed petitions, in the past, for MS to qualify, but for the moment, it doesn’t, and that’s it.
A few people may have sneaked under the radar, but certainly with NHS budgets already under the pressure they are, I don’t think all of us turning up en masse at our surgeries demanding free prescriptions is going to work. They will look at whether it’s covered, and it isn’t.
My GP agreed that I could have an exemption certificate last year when I wasn’t able to drive and therefore couldn’t get to the surgery on my own; I needed someone to take me.
I now drive with hand controls and can get to the surgery on my own but the info that came with the certificate said that you were still eligible if your circumstances changed within the lifetime of the certificate.
Frances, you were lucky your GP was willing to break the rules for you - because that is what she has done - or certainly turned a blind eye to them. There’s certainly no general provision for unnamed conditions that just happen to be progressive or incurable. I wouldn’t feel comfortable asking my doctor to sign things I know I’m not entitled to - I think it puts her in an awkward position.
I don’t think it’s fair that diabetes qualifies, whilst MS doesn’t, but I can see that the distinction is probably the difference between drugs that are needed to preserve life (diabetes), and those that only treat symptoms (MS). I’m pretty sure I’ve signed petitions, in the past, for MS to qualify, but for the moment, it doesn’t, and that’s it.
A few people may have sneaked under the radar, but certainly with NHS budgets already under the pressure they are, I don’t think all of us turning up en masse at our surgeries demanding free prescriptions is going to work. They will look at whether it’s covered, and it isn’t.
Tina
[/quote] Tina, l can assure you - that in no way did this GP break rules. She is such a stickler for rules. And if it was a ‘Rule’ - l think it would have been contested. She looked at the application form and said she could not see any reason why ms was not included - and it was certainly worth trying. This is the sort of thing we should take to the European Commission - we are being discriminated against. Drug Addicts get lots of expensive treatment free - and even smokers get help to quit smoking.
lf you don’t ask - you won’t get. So don’t be put off.
This is a discussion that is at risk of overheating, lets just accept that a statement like ‘has a continuing physical disability which means the person cannot go out without the help of another person’ can readily apply to a number of MSers and clearly has a degree of interpretation, after all even the most severly affected can probably fall aver the threshold of their front door without even being pushed. In the absence of published test criteria (which there may well be), this is a grey statement which requires medical interpretation
hi there sorry about your sitution as for the perscriptions go to your doctors there they should have a special form for people who have long term illness like ours.fill it in get your doctor to sign it and send it off to the perscription place not quiet sure of the address but it is on the form.you will then receive a card giving you free perscriptions.i have one and its great as i would not be able to afford all my perscription charges.
Hi Bex. If you receive middle or higher rate dla then somebody can claim invalid care allowance for looking after you. If you get the qualifying amount of dla and nobody looks after you then you are entitled to to extra income support. It will be on the letter you get saying what the law says you need to live on and it will say because you have a disability. It is nearly £30 a week. Worth checking out.
Tina, GPs are human beings. The good ones are not doctrinaire: they know how to finesse things in a good cause (for instance, if they know that Person A with MS is really struggling financially). If Patient B with MS then landed in the surgery car park in a private helicopter and demanded free prescriptions on account of having MS, that same GP would, quite properly, tell that person to go and chase himself. The GP would be right on both counts, in my opinion.
I am so very sorry for you. Aren’t there some unique insurance coverage resources for this type of situations in your country? I cannot think about how is that that in such a wealthy nation individuals cannot get med they really need.