Why Can You Claim Free Services When Claiming Income-Based Jobseeker's Allowance But Not Contributions Based Jsa?

[clairson59]

I read on the Gov.UK website that if you claim income-based JSA you can get free dental treatment, eye tests, prescriptions etc. but if you claim contributions based JSA you get nothing. Seems a bit unfair that if you have worked and paid into the system perhaps for years and maybe managed to save a bit for your old age you then have to spend your savings on essential care while those who have contributed little or nothing and/or wasted your money get everything handed on a plate. Can anyone explain this?

I'm asking because I recently left my job due to health issues, being too tired to travel 2 hours each way and changes at work I couldn't accept. If/when I eventually go and sign on (which have to wait up to 26 weeks to do) I will get contributions based JSA but will have to pay for all the above out of my savings until I get a new job. Seems unfair when I have worked for nearly 40 years with only a 10 month break when I was made redundant in 2003.

[bednobs]

Everyone else has to pay too, even if you have paid into the sysyem, and are continuing to.. If you are only getting contribution based JSA you could be a multimillionairre, whereas if you are getting income based, you don't have the money.

[Mamyalynne]

Contribution based JSA is only paid for 6 months so thereafter things will change for you.

Have you informed them you are ill?

[scorpiojo]

Would the JSA be your only income?

http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/1125.aspx

[EDDIE51]

If you get income based JSA you qualify automatically for free health care.
If you get contribution based JSA you may still get free health care but you have to claim it based on your income. Your partner's income ( if you have one )is counted as well.

[fiction-factory]

I noticed this when I was on contribution based JSA for a while. I thought that for the first time since I left childhood I might get some free prescriptions or ddental work , but I noticed each time I queued in the chemist that everyone except me was getting them free. The default position seemed to be that they were free. The staff seemed unsure what to do when, after reading the declaration, i said I wasn't entitled to free.
As Mamyalynne said though I had more than the threshold for savings so and my wife was working, and I expected to get work soon so I wasn't in desperate need of free prescriptions

[hc4361]

FF, you can't possibly know that everyone else was getting free prescriptions. Many people who have to take a lot of regular meds have a pre-paid certificate which can save a lot of money. They just tick the box on the back on the prescription to say they have it.

[fiction-factory]

They asked everyone hc. I was lsitening with interest. Does that help?

[hc4361]

My word! Whatever happened to confidentiality? I certainly wouldn't use that chemist.

[fiction-factory]

Happens at my dentist and optician too. They don't have private booths at the counter where I live

[fiction-factory]

Whilst you can clearly afford to pay for your prescriptions for quite some time, clairson59, I can see your point.
Apparently 88% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge in England for various reasons. Those exempt include children under 16, pregnant women, people over 60, young people in full-time further education, people in receipt of certain benefits such as Jobseekers' Allowance (Income based) and people suffering from specific conditions, such as certain types of physical disability, diabetes, or epilepsy, for which they hold a valid exemption certificate.

Whilst I'm sure someone on Contribution based JSA who exceeds the savings threshold should be able to afford to shell out for quite a number of prescriptions, one could also say the same for some affluent over 60s or professional parents of young children.

[THECORBYLOON]

You say you'll need to wait up to twenty-six weeks before claiming JSA. If that's because you left voluntarily, you are mistaken. Benefit used to be sanctioned (stopped) for up to twenty-six weeks when employment ended voluntarily but it's been reduced to thirteen weeks and will be imposed only if good reason has not been shown. If you left because of medical reasons that may be a good reason and if advised to leave by a doctor that is strong evidence and a sanction may not be imposed.

You are better to claim now rather than wait months.

[clairson59]

Thanks to everyone for the answers. I'm angry that heart conditions, which I have, don't qualify for free prescriptions whereas diabetes which is often caused by a bad diet does. I wonder how they justify that? I have a prepayment certificate so I save money on the medications I have to take each day. I'm interested to note I could sign on for JSA after 13 weeks. I'm not sure I'd qualify but I might give it a try if I have not found a job by then. £72,40 a week is better than nothing.

[THECORBYLOON]

You do not need to wait thirteen weeks. You should claim now and wait for a decision as to whether a sanction needs to be imposed. JSA remains in payment pending the sanction decision and if health reasons were a factor in your leaving, it MAY mean a sanction is not imposed.

[THECORBYLOON]

Poor diets often contribute to ghe risk of various heart conditions (I am not suggesting that yours is) so the your argument could also be applied to them.

[clairson59]

Thecorbyloon, your suggestion that heart conditions are often caused by poor diet is correct but so is type 2 diabetes (the most prevalent). People with type 2 are quite often obese. They continue to pig-out and get not just their diabetic medication free, they get any other medicines they need free too. Being really fat is a lifestyle choice so if they can get free meds then people with heart conditions should qualify too as heart conditions can be hereditary not due to poor lifestyle choices. I will check out about signing on for JSA though but hopefully I'll have a new job before I need to.

[Mamyalynne]

We could make sweeping statements all day long, I know type 2 diabetics who have never carried weight and those who did have drastically altered their diet since diagnosis.

The claimants don't make the rules sadly.

[THECORBYLOON]

If I were you, I'd be making the claim for JSA rather than complaining about the rights and wrongs of free prescriptions but it's up to you.