Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the potential annual cost to the public purse of exempting all people with long-term medical conditions from prescription charges.

Alistair Burt

We have not made a recent estimate of the cost to the public purse in lost revenue from introducing an exemption from prescription charges for all people with long-term medical conditions. However, the review of prescription charges by Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, which was commissioned by a previous Government and published in 2010, estimated that extending the prescription charge exemption to everyone with a long-term condition would cost £360 to £430 million a year. This is likely to be an underestimate, given the increase in the prescription charge and increasing numbers of prescriptions dispensed since the Review was published. Overall prescription charge revenue for 2014/15, which is the last year for which we have a complete audited figure, was £503.9 million.

A number of prescription charge exemptions are in place, for which someone with a long-term condition may qualify. These include exemptions based on low income, such as certain out of work benefits and the NHS Low Income Scheme, and age. Where someone does not qualify for exemption, Prescription Prepayment Certificates are available. The 3-month and 12-month certificates allow someone to claim as many prescriptions as they need for £29.10 and £104, respectively. Approximately 90% of all prescriptions are dispensed in England without a charge.