Prescription charge rises - England now the only UK country still charging - Polidicks

George Osbourne has announced today that prescription charges for England will be rising 20p to £7.40 per prescription - meanwhile Scotland have announced they will be the 3rd country in the UK to abolish the charge, leaving only England left. If you are a working adult, you are required to pay a charge of £7.40 per prescription (unless you have a long term illness - asthma not included) to help fund the NHS. However controversy is rising as it is now only English patients required to pay the fee. The department of health has stated that, " the fees raised more than £450m a year - equivalent to the salary costs of 18,000 nurses or 3,500 hospital consultants." They also said that over 90% are actually unpaid, as they are given to children, the unemployed, and cancer patients etc. [img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/51962000/gif/_51962224_prescription_charge_464.gif[/img] [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12928485[/url] [url]http://www.channel4.com/news/an-englishman-a-welshman-and-a-scotsman-go-to-a-pharmacy[/url]

Gotta get cash somehow.

Like Everything else in the UK.

[QUOTE=The mouse;28929942]Like Everything else in [b]England[/b].[/QUOTE]

Honestly, it may seem different on my end, living in Canada, but we pay for the manufacturing costs of our prescriptions (if not covered by insurance, and even then we pay it first and get our money back later), and my medication for the sinus infection I had ran upwards of 50 bucks for 30 pills, non brand-name too... I think it's good if medication set at a base price unless the cost of making it is lower, then charge at that price plus 20p/cents/whatever.

true but there's literally no reason for england's cost to rise while all the other countries in the UK get it free why not make all of the countries pay like £4 or something to even it out

[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;28931065]true but there's literally no reason for england's cost to rise while all the other countries in the UK get it free why not make all of the countries pay like £4 or something to even it out[/QUOTE] I don't know anything about the geographical regions of the UK, or how closely bonded each country is. Is each Country (i think that's what they're called?) on that graph separate from each other or are they all bonded together somehow in a commonwealth? If they're bonded then I see no reason why England has to pay for their drugs. If not, unless they're that close together, I see no reason, why the gunpowde- I mean, the cost of drugs should be the same for everyone.

[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;28931065]why not make all of the countries pay like £4 or something to even it out[/QUOTE] It's not the UK government's decision

[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;28931065]true but there's literally no reason for england's cost to rise while all the other countries in the UK get it free why not make all of the countries pay like £4 or something to even it out[/QUOTE] As far as I know the NHS trusts in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales get given a budget from the central NHS, what they do with it is up to them. Plus Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales only make up about 1/6 of the population (roughly 10 million in all) - the NHS in England has a far larger number of people to care for. EDIT: I was wrong - as smurfy said, the separate NHS services are funded by the local government, not a central body.

[QUOTE=RoflKawpter;28931121]I don't know anything about the geographical regions of the UK, or how closely bonded each country is. Is each Country (i think that's what they're called?) on that graph separate from each other or are they all bonded together somehow in a commonwealth? If they're bonded then I see no reason why England has to pay for their drugs. If not, unless they're that close together, I see no reason, why the gunpowde- I mean, the cost of drugs should be the same for everyone.[/QUOTE] The UK government has power in all areas. In the late 90s the Labour Party were elected and, after referendum approval, they implemented devolved assemblies for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Since the UK government is based in London, and there isn't a great English independence movement, there is no devolved assembly for England, and it is governed directly by the UK government (this has brought up problems such as the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lothian_question]West Lothian question[/url] though) The UK government introduced prescription charges, thus affecting all four countries. Each country has its own independent NHS, so the assemblies can choose their own revenue stream. The devolved assemblies decided they didn't prescription charges so they repealed them. The UK government still wants them, and they are in change of the NHS in England, so England still has them.

[img]http://www.filmdailies.com/images/ralph_fiennes.jpg[/img] "Are you fucking kidding me?"

The department of health has stated that, " the fees raised more than £450m a year - equivalent to the salary costs of 18,000 nurses or 3,500 hospital consultants." Stop fucking cutting funding then you dumb fucks. Jesus this is such a shit government, voted in by twats like Jallen.

[QUOTE=RoflKawpter;28930694]Honestly, it may seem different on my end, living in Canada, but we pay for the manufacturing costs of our prescriptions (if not covered by insurance, and even then we pay it first and get our money back later), and my medication for the sinus infection I had ran upwards of 50 bucks for 30 pills, non brand-name too... I think it's good if medication set at a base price unless the cost of making it is lower, then charge at that price plus 20p/cents/whatever.[/QUOTE] In Quebec, prescription drugs are fully covered as far as I know.

Scottish students used to get free tuition at unis too, dunno if it's still the case. In England, we paid about £3500 per year.

[QUOTE=Hexxeh;28937067]Scottish students used to get free tuition at unis too, dunno if it's still the case. In England, we paid about £3500 per year.[/QUOTE] It still is the case. It's also one of the SNPs pledges to keep tutition fees scrapped if they're re-elected. afaik

Wait a minute, England is a country? So it's a country inside a country?

[QUOTE=Zeke129;28936929]In Quebec, prescription drugs are fully covered as far as I know.[/QUOTE] What? Frogs.

[QUOTE=johan_sm;28937846]Wait a minute, England is a country? So it's a country inside a country?[/QUOTE] England is a country. The UK is a sovereign state making up England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It only really gets confusing when Great Britain is only England, Wales and Scotland, because it's an island.

[QUOTE=johan_sm;28937846]Wait a minute, England is a country? So it's a country inside a country?[/QUOTE] How hard is this concept to grasp? "[B]United[/B] Kingdom"

[QUOTE=Jsm;28938292]How hard is this concept to grasp? "[B]United[/B] Kingdom"[/QUOTE] The same can be said about USA, yet it's still a country.

[QUOTE=RoflKawpter;28931121]I don't know anything about the geographical regions of the UK, or how closely bonded each country is. Is each Country (i think that's what they're called?) on that graph separate from each other or are they all bonded together somehow in a commonwealth?[/QUOTE] Wales, Scotland and England are on the same landmass, N. Ireland is on the northern tip of Ireland. To the south is the Republic of Ireland, which is an entirely separate country. The United Kingdom government is located in London. Representatives from different constituencies in all 4 countries meet in Parliament and debate and pass laws. Additionally, N. Ireland, Scotland and Wales have their own separate Parliaments, where they can vote for their own legislation. Additionally, there are a bunch of islands like the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, I don't really know how they're governed.

The full name is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland but that's a bit longer to say than just UK

Well England usually has to pay for Scotland and Wales, otherwise they complain. They're small countries with even smaller populations, while England outnumbers the majority of their populations in the millions, so paying for them isn't really that much of a problem.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;28936929]In Quebec, prescription drugs are fully covered as far as I know.[/QUOTE] In Illinois, nothing is covered.

[QUOTE=johan_sm;28939452]The same can be said about USA, yet it's still a country.[/QUOTE] Yes but the second word is important in the USA abbreviation. [QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;28947446]Wales, Scotland and England are on the same landmass, N. Ireland is on the northern tip of Ireland. To the south is the Republic of Ireland, which is an entirely separate country. The United Kingdom government is located in London. Representatives from different constituencies in all 4 countries meet in Parliament and debate and pass laws. Additionally, N. Ireland, Scotland and Wales have their own separate Parliaments, where they can vote for their own legislation. Additionally, there are a bunch of islands like the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, I don't really know how they're governed.[/QUOTE] And don't forget that Irish / Welsh / Scottish MPs can vote on laws that only effect England while English MPs are unable to vote on various Welsh / Irish / Scottish laws due to the devolution.

[i]Meanwhile, in the United States of America; The Republican party and bits of the Democratic party and trying to over turn the Obama health care bill.[/i]

[QUOTE=RoflKawpter;28931121]I don't know anything about the geographical regions of the UK, or how closely bonded each country is. Is each Country (i think that's what they're called?) on that graph separate from each other or are they all bonded together somehow in a commonwealth? [/QUOTE] lern 2 geography