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theinspectorst
theinspectorst @ theinspectorst @kbin.social
Posts
18
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262
Joined
2 yr. ago

Aligning the upper age for NHS prescription charge exemptions with the State Pension age

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  • Universal free prescriptions are a gimmick. The NHS budget is not infinite - every penny that the Senedd chooses to spend on free prescriptions for middle class people who could already afford to pay for them is money that is not being spent on GP surgeries and cancer treatments and hip replacements.

    It is almost indefensible to fritter money away on middle class gimmicks when tens of thousands of Welsh patients have to wait for 2 years for
    an operation. England, which does not spend its finite NHS budget on universal free prescriptions, does not have the same problem.

    • Aligning the upper age for NHS prescription charge exemptions with the State Pension age

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  • People who have the means should pay, so we can afford for people who don't have the means not to need to.

    When you're talking about spending taxpayers' money (whether that's on health, social care, education, etc) the marginal benefit of spending it on the neediest will almost always be greater than that of spending it on those who could afford to pay for it themselves. I find it very difficult to justify why millionaires in Britain can get free prescriptions, winter fuel allowances, OAP bus passes, etc, whilst there are other people struggling by with the help of food banks and charities for whom this money would do an awful lot more good.

    • Aligning the upper age for NHS prescription charge exemptions with the State Pension age

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  • It really shouldn't. There's enough pressure on the NHS as it is - I see no reason to add to that by spending finite money on free prescriptions for middle class people who can comfortably afford them, when that money would be much better put to use on sorting out the state of GP availability, reducing hospital waiting lists, etc.