§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 19 July,Official Report, column 1284–85, (1) how many applicants to the NHS low income scheme are for help with prescription charges; how many were allowed; and what is the total value of the benefit consequently paid out; [37319]
421W(2) on the health benefits scheme, how much expenditure can be identified as resulting from applications for help through the AG1 scheme instead of total revenue forgone on health benefits. [37320]
§ Mr. MaloneAG1 claims to the national health service low income scheme are treated as claims for help in respect of all relevant NHS charges and travelling expenses. I refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave her on 19 July, columns1284–85, for the available information about prescription and dental charge revenue forgone and expenditure on sight tests and optical vouchers. Costs attributable to AG1 claims are not identified separately. Information about AG1 claims and their outcomes is shown in the table.
Number of AG1 claims received and numbers of charges certificates issued for Great Britain in 1994–95 Outcome Number of AG1 claim forms received 1,300,963 Number of NHS charges certificates issued for full help (AG2) which includes entitlement to free prescriptions1 694,135 Number of NHS charges certificates issued for limited help (AG3) 457,254 1 People receiving income support, family credit and disability working allowance (with capital of £8,000) or less are also entitled to free prescriptions under the NHS low income scheme.