Cheap Prescriptions & Medicine Tricks to slash the cost

They may say "never scrimp on your health", but there are ways to save without compromise.

Whether it's NHS prescription season tickets, buying cheaper private prescriptions or slashing over the counter medicine costs by 90%, there are many ways to improve your health without injuring your bank balance.

Cheaper NHS prescriptions

The aim of the prescription system is simple: it's a flat fee, so that people can afford any necessary medicine regardless of its cost. Yet for those on regular prescriptions, it can quickly add up. What you pay depends on where you live ...

Can you get it for free in England?

All medicines administered in hospitals or NHS walk-in centres are free (not if they prescribe you something to take away). Also free are prescribed contraceptives, medication personally administered by a GP and sexually transmitted disease treatments supplied by a hospital or primary care trust.

Even if you live in a part of the UK which charges for prescriptions, there are still a host of people who are exempt from the charges.

The following factors qualify you for free prescriptions (it depends on when the prescription was dispensed):

• If you're under 16 or over 60

• If in full time education and 16-18 years old

• If you're pregnant or have had a baby in the last 12 months

• If you or your partner receive Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income-related Employment & Support Allowance, or Pension Credit Guarantee Credit

• If you have a war pension exemption certificate

• If you have a valid Medical Exemption Certificate (given for a range of illnesses, e.g., epilepsy, cancer, severe disability)

If you qualify for free prescriptions, just fill in the back of the form at the pharmacist - but don't be tempted to lie. A false declaration can lead to a fine and prosecution.

Buy a season ticket:
NHS prescription pre-payment certificates

Anyone who regularly pays for prescriptions should consider buying a prescription pre-payment certificate, which covers all your NHS prescription fees for a set period.

The short three-month version costs �29.10 and is cheaper if you use four or more prescriptions in that time. The 12-month version is �104, which works out cheaper if you use 15 or more prescriptions.

If your condition is consistent, the longer certificate is the better value of the two. Someone getting two prescriptions a month over a year would save �70.

How to get a certificate

The easiest way to get a certificate is on the NHS Prescription Pricing Authority website, and you can pay on plastic or direct debit to spread the cost. Forms are also available in main Post Offices and some pharmacies. Alternatively, call 0845 850 0030.

Do note if you become eligible for free prescriptions after buying a certificate, you can reclaim the proportional cost for that time.

Backdate it up to three months

Normally certificates start on the day applications are received. However, you can request it's backdated up to one month earlier, a decent saving if you've just shelled out for a bulk of prescriptions.

If you have to pay for a prescription while waiting for your certificate, you can reclaim the cost up to three months after paying. You must ask for an NHS receipt (FP57) from the pharmacist at the time you buy the prescription(s) you want to claim back - they can't give you one later.

Over the counter can be cheaper

Some commonly prescribed medications, including painkillers, allergy tablets and dermatology creams, are also available over the counter without prescription. Often it's much cheaper just to buy them this way, rather than paying the �7.40 flat prescription charge.

Some pharmacies, including all Boots stores, have policies to always tell you if you're better off doing it this way.

However, there's no hard and fast rule. The prescription is sometimes cheaper, especially if the doctor provides a bulk prescription, eg, a one or three-month prescription for specific non-drowsy allergy tablets.

Slash private prescription costs

With private prescriptions - unlike the NHS deals' flat fee, which ignores cost and volume - you stump up the medicine's full cost set by the pharmacist. Over 28% of people in the UK have used a private prescription, which you get in one of two events:

• If the NHS doesn't cover the medication

  If you want a drug the NHS doesn�t hand out in your region, but don�t mind paying for the benefit, you get a private prescription.

  It could be a drug for a lifestyle-enhancing purpose such as sexual aids Cialis and Viagra (although this can be on the NHS if you've had a kidney transplant) or antimalarials such as Malarone for holidays, or anti-baldness drug Propecia.

  Alternatively, it may be an expensive innovative drug where the government worries the NHS would be overwhelmed by the cost if it was free, for example, Aricept for Alzheimers.

• Private GP prescriptions

  If you go to a non-NHS doctor (for emergency weekend diagnosis, or simply if you're a member of a scheme), it can't give NHS prescriptions. Everything is done as a private prescription.

Slash the cost of private prescriptions
Cheap viagra, malarone and more

Unlike the world of NHS prescriptions, here it's an open marketplace and pharmacies can set their own prices, meaning costs vary hugely. For example, four Viagra tablets cost �32 at Boots, but can be as little as �20 at the cheapest online pharmacy.

In our research, we found for the mainstays of private prescriptions, online pharmacies and supermarkets tend to be cheapest. Yet it's mainly a question of leg work. Call up or ask in a few places. If you're looking for allergy relief, read the full Cheap Hayfever Remedies guide for the latest top deals.

Asda's Price Promise

It's worth noting Asda has a handy price promise guarantee which includes online pharmacies, so if you can't wait for an online delivery, print out the cheapest price and take it to your local Asda. This is an ongoing deal.

Cheaper Medications: go generic

Brands are big business in the medical world. Drugs companies spend millions promoting an �only use the name you know' message. This seems eminently sensible - after all, health isn't something we take short cuts with. Yet, quite simply, it's a load of marketing baloney.

When a company develops a drug, it's given unique rights to sell it for a number of years. Once that ends, any company can make the drug, providing they meet regulations.

The key is the �active' ingredient - the stuff that actually does the business. And there are many generic products, ie, unbranded or own-brand, which have the same stuff, but cost much less. Protections and quality control apply equally to all branded and generic products.

Of course, my expertise is money, so why take my word for it? Dr. Hilary Jones, the resident Doctor on Daybreak, agrees:

Is there any difference at all?

While there isn't a medical difference, the packaging and the design usually differ substantially. Branded drugs are often better packaged, with nicer coloured tablets and better tasting coating.

However, swallow a pill with orange juice and you shouldn�t notice the difference (although doctors warn against taking pills with grapefruit juice as that can counteract some medications).

The only other thing to note is, if you have any allergies, always check the other non-active ingredients too. Don't automatically assume they're the same in a generic product as a branded one.

Where should you buy them?

The biggest saving is in switching to generic from branded products, regardless of where you shop. However, to finesse even bigger price cuts, try your supermarket. Tesco and Asda especially have steamrollered into the pharmaceutical world in the last couple of years, with cheap prices undercutting most of the high street pharmacies.

Do remember though, if the price difference isn't too great, buying generic at your local independent pharmacy may help it remain open in the face of stiff competition.