By Susan Stewart, Licensed Insurance Agent
I lived in England for 10 years, worked, got a driver's license, joined a book club, and needed medical care.
Here are facts and observations written from the point of observation rather than deep investigative reporting.
In the U.K., prescriptions currently cost £9.90 each. That is about $12. In 2012, they were £7.65. Unless you financially qualify for assistance, that is the cost for each and every prescription you collect. The only free prescriptions are contraception and in-patient hospital. It is interesting that while you can buy Co-Codemol (Tylenol with codeine) over the counter, I shocked a pharmacist when I wanted to buy rubbing alcohol. He asked what on earth I wanted that for and said they do not carry dangerous liquids. Go figure.
Upon returning permanently to the United States, it bothered me to find almost all prescriptions were in plastic bottles. Plastic bottles go into landfills by the millions and will never break down. In the U.K., most medications are supplied in blister packs and a box. If the prescribed quantity does not fit the standard box size, the medication is placed in a plain white box with a sticky label, and the necessary number of blister packs are included inside. The blister packs are trimmed to keep the number right. The norm for writing prescriptions is 28 days, as many drugs are pre-packaged in blister packs by the drug company with 28-day supplies. Sometimes, doctors can prescribe for 90 days, but again, 28 days is the norm.
Curiously, the same packaging applies to many over-the-counter tablets and capsules. In checking the grocery store, I was most likely to shop for acetaminophen (Paracetamol in the UK); the cost was 55 pence for a box of 16 tablets. That is about 80 cents. There is a limit of two boxes.
In the U.K., turning sixty means no longer paying for prescription medication. However, in the U.S., anyone who has ever completed a Medicare Advantage Plan or Prescription Drug Plan review waits with bated breath to hear the cost of prescription drugs. I recently helped one of my clients complete an application for Extra Help (a federally funded program to help eligible people on Medicare with drug costs). When I saw that her application had been approved, I had to call her even though it was past time to go home. That successful application saved her $340 in deductible and three prescriptions that would have cost her $47 a month each. Now, those three drugs are limited to $12.90 each. Her delight made my day.
Drug companies are not allowed to have a stranglehold in the U.K. as in America. It is also fair to realize that all drugs, whether £9.90 or free at 60 years of age, must be paid for. Taxpayers' money is used to fund the National Health Service, which is struggling mightily. This only further highlights how the process of healthcare change in America is a monumental task that is complicated beyond description.
I want politicians to take at least one aspect of America's health care and fight for change. Ensuring all Americans have access to prescription medication is a good place to start.
