What are you all up to
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You are only a pensioner once you receive State Pension? This will affect those who have yet to receive State Pension, possibly still working? Possibly a good few on low incomes but not on benefits? And only if they are English.
I have responded to consultation not particularly in view of how it affects me personally, but more from a wider perspective.
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Similar to us then AD, finished paid work early, relied on our non State Pensions to see us through. Happily, as youngsters, we made some wise choices and it has helped us. Still too young to get much at all in this household.😁
I sort of worry on behalf of those who aren’t as fortunate though, just hope it won’t prevent some folks not so well off from getting their prescriptions. There are exemptions, but if it’s like many of the other means tested stuff, it will be a nightmare for some trying to navigate access to entitlements.
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Re pensions and prescriptions.
Don't know if its changed now but when I was working 10.5 years ago. There was a number of staff that were of the age to receive state pension, ie over 60 women & 65 men. They no longer paid NI contributions, they got free prescriptions, free bus travel and the winter fuel allowance.
The younger workers trying to pay huge mortgages/rent, bringing up children, paying for pre and after school clubs were quite rightly I think rather indignant about it.
There are many pensioners who do not need these 'freebies' while there are some who would struggle without them. Working families struggle to make ends meet in many households.
We are not rich by some folks standards but we have planned for our retirement and we have not wasted money. The winter fuel allowance we receive each year goes to a local charity, different one each year.
Money is wasted IMO by all governments, pensioners in care homes still get their winter fuel allowance, why? If their fees are paid for by the local authority then most of their pension is taken from them for their upkeep, paying the WFA is wasting money, it should go to the care home they are the ones who need it. We did that every year that Mum was in care.
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Because our older relatives, Dad, and 3 aunts, had a house then Care Home costs were between 5,000 to 3,000 a month. As far as I know no one in their Homes were having their care paid for by the local authority. In Devon all of the Council Care Homes were sold off 11 years ago. £10 a year doesn’t go far when residents are having to pay this sort of money.
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Yesterday evenings Cowes fireworks were a bit of a blowy affair 50mph winds in the Solent but good for the kite borders and wind surfers, this is not a great picture but this is the luxury Yacht Golden Horizon, she carries 300 passengers in real luxury she is part of the Clipper family, when i had a real job i used to provide satellite comms for all the Clipper ships there are 4 or 5 in service. Golden Horizon has been anchored off of Cowes for a couple of days no doubt all part of the Cowes sailing week, not been onboard her as she is relatively new to the fleet. Grot day thus far, lots of rain but forecast is for blue skies later and all next week
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Son here in NI thinks those in work over here in NI should pay for their prescriptions unless entitled to benefits and the money put into the NHS which is in a terrible state over here. Waiting lists much longer than in England. He has told us of people being told they will have to wait months if not over a year for urgent cancer treatment and possibly 6 years or much more for a hip replacement
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Club sites this time, it's a short trip to see daughter in Midlands, son in NE and also friends...should have done it earlier! Club sites are handy for this trip. I'm going to have to look for cancellations, not something we usually have to do. Maybe a CL for seeing friends on the return journey. Hope you enjoy the Otley CL, would like a visit there.
Showery day again, hoping to go out if I can. OH has weekend off from plumbing and tiling duties.
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We were grateful for anything that came my mother's way when she was in a care home and paying for herself. Everything she and my father had earned and saved for vanished so swiftly. But being independent was also a bonus, no state interference or limits on choice.
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With regard to paying for prescriptions whilst you are working. If it were just a case of the occasional prescription for a course of antibiotics or a cream for this and that I don't suppose there would be a case against. However many people at 60 are taking medications to help extend their lives. Margaret has had free prescriptions for years before she retired because of her diabetes. If she had to pay for prescriptions it would probably cost her £500 a year. I am in no position to make a judgement on whether people, if still, working are in a position to afford things. Whilst its true some will, but many won't be. That is the reason things tend to a universal rather than means tested. When I first retired I thought I was quite comfortably off but as years go by you start to detect and erosion of that income and I am afraid that pensioners seem to be in the crosshairs of this Government!!!
David
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I do think there should be a cap on the price paid though Brue. My aunt had paid out £320,000 for Care by the time she passed away, her house and all of her savings. Although my Dad’s Care was paid for from his savings we still had little choice on Homes as he had dementia, so only a few Homes would take him. Social Services wanted to place him 40 miles away from his home and us, we battled and won to keep him close by, it was such a bad time, made worse with little help.
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Yes I agree with you Debsc. I think everyone in the future will have to pay some sort of insurance but I hope that doesn't mean the state takes over. Personally I'd like to be independent. Care homes need better payments from the state they are not receiving enough at present. My Mum's place was not for profit, a really good system, it had to fund itself, everything got paid into the running and upkeep but people like my mum subsidised those having state fees paid. She paid more and they paid less. But it had good governance.
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"should have done it earlier"
thankfully we did just that 12 months ago, as we left the site in Devon I just knew Covid was not going away and that in all probability lots of people would be on staycations 12 months hence, so we just booked 1 months stay as we left the site, dont go in for this touring around, go away mainly just for a change of scenery and to do something a little different, like having a swimming pool 2 mins away, although i do a lot of sea swimming just now, a pool, sauna etc are great, and i tend to do more of the cooking whilst away, and we eat out more, so OH gets a break.
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Been a busy few days since we got back from holiday lots to catch up on although still not managed to wash the car or caravan. Weather here not too great been heavy rain since yesterday morning. Not sure what the plan is today possibly a drive along the coast in the day van.
Hope everyone else has a nice weekend
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Follow-up appointment went well. After eye patch removal, vision/pressures OK. Understandably a fair bit of bruising under the eye - think Alice Cooper makeup. I'll probably be tagged as a domestic abuser now.
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No council run care homes here either but the majority of the homes do take state funded folk. Mum had a choice of homes that she could go into, waiting list on the better ones of course but the places do come up quickly sadly.
The WFA was £100 + £10 so if all those on state funded paid that to the care home it could go some way to the huge heating bills they face each year. As I said we also donated our £200 each year to the home Mum was in. We are aware it didn't get spent on heating but it got spent on other things that they struggle to afford these days. No that Mum has passed we donate our WFA to local good causes like, children's homes, the homeless, food banks etc. There are so many good causes we are never stuck for choice.
We just feel that we don't need the WFA even though we have an LPG tank for heating and hot water which isn't cheap. If we can help a little here and there we will while we can.
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There are lots of things you could do with WFA. It was introduced by Gordon Brown in 1997 as a universal benefit and had it been index linked it would now be worth £186 a year. You could target it by just giving it to those on Pension Credit. The trouble with that is there is a huge gap between the limit for Pension Credit and the wealthiest pensioners. There are probably millions of pensioners whose modest state and occupational pensions take them above the PC application limit but they are far from well off. One option might be to add it to the November State Pension which would mean it would be liable for tax. Anyone with a pension of £12000 or less wouldn't pay anything but the wealthiest would pay 40% tax on it. Universal payments might seem to be a sledge hammer to crack a nut option but at least everyone gets it. If it is restricted to certain groups many entitled to it will miss out as it won't be claimed or people don't understand the system. The are, apparently, lots of people entitled to PC who don't apply for it for one reason or another.
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Yes I agree with you Debsc. I think everyone in the future will have to pay some sort of insurance but I hope that doesn't mean the state takes over. Personally I'd like to be independent.
Brue,I agree with you. When Father-in-Law was forced to go into a home due to dementia and his general health his wife was able to get him into a care home that had excellent reports and was on a bus route from our village. The council agreed to pay an amount that they would have had to pay to put him in one of their homes and MiL topped it up. She was much happier having a say in the matter. The home the council wanted to put him in would have meant catching 3 buses and over an 90 minutes travelling time each way. Obviously different when we were around.
Anyway today has been a bit of a wash out. Heavy showers more on than off. I think the garden has had a good watering. Interesting reading the posts about WFA etc. I qualify this year.
First time I will ever have received a benefit from the Government. Never claimed for Sick Pay, Unemployment pay, Housing benefit or child allowance. etc. Have to decide which charity to give it to. Probably an animal based one or hospice Look for it to be scrapped very very soon!
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WN, I would never voluntarily return anything the government gives to me! Energy prices are set to rise over the coming year, hang on to that payment, if lots of people return it people who do need it will probably go without, gov.uk is always on the look out for clawing back things they think we don't need....
Rufs, my forward holiday planning took a dive in October (but it did make me sort out next May!) Sitting outside our local co-op, my big outing for today I spotted an extra day available on a site I need and grabbed it. Holiday planning at it's most desperate.....
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I am with brue, we take whatever the Gov send us and use it as we see fit. It can be pretty cold up here and our fuel bills are quite high.
Like Dk, we initially thought we were quite reasonably off as pensioners, but now realise that is not the case compared to many on here!
OH has, since 1970, been a stay at home Mum as she was initially very ill and now has a hidden disability, which means she could not work and qualified for free prescriptions. She would much rather have had good health and paid for her prescriptions!
As a result, we have only my pension, and as MIL used to say, we were "born too late" to benefit from a lot of the payments families get these days.
However, I had a good job and a decent pension offering, so reckoned we were OK. Now, with inflation, and no inflation linking of pension, and the miserable interest rates on savings, things are not quite so good. But, with careful planning, and living within our modest means, we are doing OK, and much better than those pensioners who have to rely on only a State Pension.
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What a good day we've had today.
Weather has been good, getting better as the day went on, now we have a glorious evening.
Took a bike ride along the coast to Cullen, very nice pretty place this morning, then this afternoon took the car further east to Gamrie bay. Love this coast such great views and pretty villages.
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Hope you enjoy the Otley CL, would like a visit there.
Brue, the CL, Warm Lane Farm, is fine, and a lot cheaper than either the one at Pool, or Ilkley. It is fairly basic, but has H/S, EHU, a good view and is very quite considering it is so close to main roads. The traffic round here is heavier than we are used to, and there are lots of road works all round Leeds and the ring road.
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Did you drop off at the hotel and partake of their Cullen Skink? Not a dish that appeals to us, but I on know other love it.
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The Triple Lock on State Pensions is apparently under consideration for at least partial reduction in the Westminster World. Should that happen there could well be some changes in elderly peoples views of the integrity of politicians, perhaps. Any further expense by way of charging for certain medications could also be seen as attacking ' Sitting Ducks '
Not by me, personally, but I'd like there to be a regular appraisal of the goodies that are dished out at regular intervals by the N.H.S.
I take an ASDA bag for life when I go for my 6 monthly prescription
too many pills, tablets etc for me to recall what each is intended to do for / to me !!0 -
Sorry, I was a bit rushed when doing the post about Pensions / Prescriptions ~~ I got a misdirected delivery of Instant Food !!
I get a monthly prescription on line and keep a stock of what I want / need, only six-monthly do I request a Sharps Bin so need the carrier bag
. I expect the C19 rules have limited the contact 'tween us all and our front-line medics { mine is the Diabetes Specialist nurse and the Local Dracula ! } When I actually get to meet the Girls again I should have a 'shopping list ' of questions to ensure I get my 10 minutes worth of time .I do know though of several very elderly, by my standards, folks who have their requirements of ibuprofen and aspirin on their regular prescription list
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