[BELL RINGING] Welcome back to Coffee Break, the audio equivalent of realising you didn't need to pay that much. This week, we're talking about one of the NHS's best-kept secrets-- Prescription prepayments, certificates, or PPCs, sounds boring, but can actually save you real money. Are you somebody paying for more than one prescription a month? This is something for you to listen to. And somehow lots of people who'd benefit most have never even been told about them. We're going to break down how they work, who should get one, and how to avoid paying more than you need to. All in this week's Coffee Break. [MUSIC PLAYING] I'm Dr. Jeff Hampe. And I'm Dr. Sam McGinley. And this is season one of Coffee Break. We are two general practitioners from beautiful dogs to the United Kingdom. And we are happy to have you here with us for another Coffee Break. In our show, we give you helpful and useful health and wellness information in short and easily digestible episodes. And that's right, and hopefully in a fun and enjoyable way as well. In today's Vat Sea of Health Information, we hope to be your trusty island of reliable and impartial independent, unbiased information. And we may even have some guests with us to help. So sit back and enjoy. Hey, Coffee Break. [MUSIC PLAYING] Now, before we start this week's show, we wanted to tell you about another way of listening to the show, especially if you're somebody who may not be very IT savvy, or maybe you know somebody who isn't able to listen using their phones or computers. We have a phone number you can ring and hear every single one of the shows. So if you ring 01202, 013503 in the UK, this is a standard right phone number. And you may have to listen to the shows 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That's pretty good, isn't it? It is really, yeah. So on with the show. This time, we're going to talk about prescription prepayments certificates. And just to remind you that this information is valid. At the time, we recorded it, these things are subject to price changes and things do change. But in general, quite a useful thing to know about if you pay for your perceptions. Yeah. I mean, we've all seen that prescription challenges have gone up over the years, haven't we? And certainly, maybe if you're just paying for one, every so often, you don't think about it. But when it becomes monthly, and certainly when you add in more and more prescriptions that cost quickly builds up. So exactly. If you know you've got to pay for a lot of NHS prescriptions, it might actually be cheaper to buy a prepayment certificates. And this covers all of your NHS prescriptions, including NHS dental prescriptions, regardless of how many items you need. That's right. There are a couple of things it doesn't cover. Examples include wicks. And for example, fabric supports. So it's important to know that prescription challenges are for each item on your prescription. No, they're not the actual prescription itself. So you've got several items on prescription. You pay for each of those items. Yes. And there are, I believe, three options to go for when you set up a prepayment. Yeah. So you can opt for a three month prepayment certificate. And currently that costs 32 pounds and 5p. It saves you money if you need more than three prescribed items in a three month period. Yeah. There's also a 12 month, which is 114 pounds and 50 pence. And that will save you money if you need more than 11 prescribed items in a year. And there's also something we'll talk about later in this episode, a hormone replacement therapy at HRT prescription pre-bentless certificates. That costs 19 pound 18. And saves you money if you need more than two prescribed qualified HRT items in a year. Yeah. So how do we get hold of these certificates? Well, you can actually go and buy one online. It will then start from the day you submit your application. Unless you ask for a different start date, which I think you can request when you submit it, can't you? Yes. And the start date has to be within a month, either before or after the day to your application. Yeah. And we were talking about a phone number earlier. You can actually ring and set one up via a phone number. Yep. And you can ring the PPC order line, which is on O303301341. That's O303301341. You're also certificate will then be valid from the day you make the phone call. Again, unless you request otherwise. Yeah. And this probably could help sometimes if you walk into a pharmacy and you're picking something up, you may be able to order and activate a PPC with them live at the time. And that might be a helpful way of setting it up. It should be valid from the day that you purchase it in the pharmacy. That's right. And when you order your PPC, you can get that by email, by post, or you can print it off. Actually, if you're ordering online. But as you just said, what happens if you want a prescription pre-payment certificate now, maybe the chemist isn't a chemist that can sell PPCs? Well, you can apply for a refund. If you pay for prescriptions whilst you're waiting for the prescription pre-payment certificate, but really importantly, you have to ask the pharmacist for an NHS receipt, which is called a form FP57. It's not a bit of till roll. It's not any. It is a very specialised form. Probably made form, yeah. And you get that when you collect your prescription, and then you can then send it in and claim back the cost. Yes. OK. Well, that sounds very helpful. There is a separate, as we mentioned, HRT certificate, because HRT is a little bit more complex than often. For many people, we'll actually have two components to prescription each activating a charge. So what it does is it covers an unlimited number of some HRT medicines for 12 months, including if they're prescribed for something other than menopause symptoms. That's right. So if you pay for NHS prescribed HRT medications three or more times in 12 months, an HRT pre-payment certificate could save you money. Each item normally costs at the time of recording 9.19. You can buy an HRT pre-payment certificate for a one-off payment of 19 pounds, 80, which is actually the cost of two-singed items. And this then covers an unlimited number of certain HRT medicines for the 12 months, regardless of why they were prescribed. Exactly. And as you alluded to, it doesn't actually cover all HRT medications. So it's really important to check that the medication you're prescribed is covered by this service before buying the certificate. Or we'll put a link in the show later. It's a way. Yes. I think it'll be a very helpful link to look out for before activating. And generic versions of the medicines are covered. Sometimes you might be prescribed a brand, and it's good to know that if there might be an issue without getting access to a particular brand at one time, so it's helpful to know that it does cover the generic, isn't it? And the generic drug name is usually the name of the active ingredient in the medicine that you're being issued. So we did mention that some HRT medications are not listed, and why is that? Well, actually, the prepayment certificate only covers HRT medicines that are licensed to treat menopause in the UK. But really importantly, if your HRT medicine is covered, but you take it for reasons that are not the menopause, you can still use your HRT prepayment certificate. Yes. Very good. [MUSIC PLAYING] So Sam, do you have any take-home points from today's show? I think we're all feeling the pinch more these days, aren't we, with money? So I think if there is any way of saving a little bit, it's helpful to have a certificate. And it feels like a bigger chunk to start with. But certainly if you're someone who is expecting, unfortunately, more prescriptions in a year, this is probably the way it goes. Yeah, definitely. I think it's one of those things that, as you say, may appear to be quite a large outbreak at the beginning, but it does cover you for any medication throughout the year throughout the 12 months period or throughout the period. And that does include things that aren't just medicines prescribed. So I think it can be very helpful for those people who do pay. Yeah, absolutely. [MUSIC PLAYING] This has been an episode of Coffee Break, and we hope you've enjoyed it. And if you have, then I hope you'll join us for another Coffee Break soon. Remember, if you want to get in touch with us, or if you have any ideas or suggestions, then please feel free to email us at the show. At
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