Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of removing free prescriptions on the health of (a) all benefit claimants and (b) benefit claimants with long-term health conditions.

The Government’s policy remains that, where a benefit entitles a claimant to free prescriptions, the claimant must be in receipt of that benefit. For example, Universal Credit claimants must be in receipt of a positive award of Universal Credit and their earnings in their last assessment period must meet the income thresholds to entitle them to free prescriptions.

Not everyone who is subject to the new claim closure measure will lose access to free prescriptions. As always, if entitlement to other benefits is reliant solely on a Universal Credit claim to establish eligibility, that eligibility will cease if the claim is closed. Claimants who have more severe health conditions and vulnerabilities are excluded from conditionality, sanctions and claim closure.

There is a variety of exemption criteria beyond receiving Universal Credit which would qualify an individual for free prescriptions. As such, no assessment has been made of removing free prescriptions for all benefit claimants or benefits claimants with long-term health conditions. Around 89% of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge. Eligibility depends on the patient’s age, whether people are pregnant or have recently had a baby, whether they are in qualifying full-time education, get a war pension or have a qualifying medical condition.

People on a low income who do not qualify for an exemption from prescription charges can seek help under the NHS Low Income Scheme, which provides help with health costs on an income-related basis. For those who do not qualify for exemption, prescription prepayment certificates (PPCs) allow people to claim as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost. A three-monthly PPC or an annual PPC will save people money if they need four or more items in three months or 13 or more items in 12 months.