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The new threshold for exemption from NHS charges is still too low and as your example shows, many will just miss it by a whisker.
So while we can thank the government for this improvement(and thanks to Citizens Advice and others who have lobbied about this issue), it does need to go just a bit further to sweep up key groups of those on low incomes who need free prescriptions. It's fairly obvious that those on IB are more likely to need prescriptions than other people, yet after paying housing costs, many are just buttons above IS level - or even below and it is of course income before housing costs which is assessed. The cost of treating poorly managed conditions as a result of people not taking medication because they can't afford it, must be far higher than the costs of a modest improvement in income thresholds.
Is anyone going to be monitoring this new arrangement?
On a more positive note, many peope on IB with incomes a tad over IS level will now get help - people in the fifties with enduring mental health probelms who have previously been unable to get free prescriptions have been a particular concern and there is a need to do some take-up/awareness activity around this.
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