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Am i entitled to free eyecare?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I'm unemployed but not being paid Jobseeker's Allowance or any other benefits. I am still "signing on" every fortnight though. Does this mean i'm entitled to a free eye test and glasses if i need them?
If not then it's disgusting as i'm actually LESS able to afford them myself than someone who IS claiming Jobseeker's Allowance!!!! I'm still unemployed and not receiving any income. I'm not being paid benefits because i left my job voluntarily - oooh, what a rogue i am. I deserve to be punished and have my free eye tests taken away. :rolleyes:
If not then it's disgusting as i'm actually LESS able to afford them myself than someone who IS claiming Jobseeker's Allowance!!!! I'm still unemployed and not receiving any income. I'm not being paid benefits because i left my job voluntarily - oooh, what a rogue i am. I deserve to be punished and have my free eye tests taken away. :rolleyes:
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£20 last time i had one, i'm sure they were.
:thumb:
and in the tesco magazine. :thumb:
There's a good reason why you don't get JSA if you voluntarily leave your job though.
Was that your point?
It does, though.
If you are poor or a child, the NHS will pay for your eyetest and glasses with single-vision lenses in.
And as for health issues, the NHS treat. When I had an ulcer on my eyeball, it was an NHS hospital I went to, not Specsavers.
As far as I remember, I got free eye tests up until I was 18 and left college, then it became about £20 for a test. I was entitled to free NHS lenses and frames, or a voucher to the same amount off frames that I wanted. I think I chose to have shit clothes but good glasses in the end!
Opticians still work within the NHS system, but we pay for eye tests in the same way that we pay for NHS prescriptions.
Righto. But wouldn't it make more sense to have the test free, like a visit to the GP?
Not really, vision testing isn't a priority service.
It works similarly to the dental system, which is fair enough.
She means she's too cheap to pay to get her vision tested.
er. WTF. Are you talking to me?
Ok, well the visit to the GP is for diagnostics and it's free. You then pay for the prescription or treatment, which is subsidised with exemptions and means testing. If eye healthcare were treated the same way, the diagnosis part (the test) would be free and the treatment part would be subsidised with means testing. This would be fairer in my eyes. (woot, great accidental pun. lol)
The frames aren't really a problem with or without NHS vouchers, if you hunt around you can get up-to-date stylish ones pretty cheaply- even 'designer'. Although, there may be an issue with higher prescriptions lenses only being able to be held in certain designs of frames.
Onto treatment- the NHS glasses vouchers are for a fixed amount if you qualify right? Well, this doesn't seem fair. Can't remember who it was on these boards, maybe Illora? but because her eyesight is worse than mine, her lenses cost a LOT more, so while mine would be fully covered by an NHS voucher, hers cost her a packet. Now it's not like she could do anything to make the lenses cheaper- even really basic ones without scratch resistance or anything were hella expensive (I had a bargain search on it and couldn't find anyway for her to get them cheaper). So as it is- the worse your eyesight and argeuable therefore the more you need the specs, the more you pay. A means tested person who pays prescriptions pays 6 quid- regardless of how much that med costs the NHS, whereas the glasses voucher value is fixed below the price of some peoples lenses. So, to (finally) answer your question, if we were receive free tests and pay a fixed amount for filling a lense prescription with the surplus being collected or coughed up by the NHS, it would make more sense to me.
Before I get 'scrouge' accusations, if fixed prescription charges for lenses were implimented it would cost me more moolah as my lenses are currently cheap. Although, if I had a script for meds/lenses I could get 'over the counter' cheaper than the script price, I would simply buy. And no, I don't know where the money would come from for eyecare to be subsidised in this way. I am merely pointing out what seems to be a discrepancy in NHS health service.
If you want designer stuff, or superthin lenses, then pay for them. NHS vouchers are for a value anyway, so its not much extra. It might do you out of three packs of cigs, diddums. You're not going to die of short-sightedness.
You pay to have your teeth checked, and you pay to have your eyes checked. Why? Because the pot is limited, and you aren't going to die if you are short-sighted or need a filling.
Health problems with eyes are treated free of charge, vision problems do not affect health. When I got an ulcer on my eye I got it treated at eye casualty for free, but I have to pay for my glasses as I don't need them.
What The Fuck is your problem Thief? Have no real arguement against what I've said so you have to make something up?- stupid!
Is this supposed to be directed at me? The sarcasm and thinly veiled jibes? Is that because you can't find any real objection to my posts so you have to be snide instead?- not clever. In fact you are really stupid! Oh and a thief too!