§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is the current average waiting time for men claiming refunds as a result of the recent European Court ruling on prescription charges for men aged 60 to 65 years before(a) decisions are made about eligibility and (b) the refunds are provided; 19197]
(2) what measures have been taken to shorten the waiting time for men claiming refunds as a result of the recent European Court ruling on prescription charges for men aged 60 to 65 years. 19198]
. MaloneA total of 187,000 claim forms have been issued by the prescription claims processing unit. Once completed claim forms have been received, the average time taken to assess entitlement and issue authorisation of payment is one month.
Administrative procedures have been kept as simple as possible and we expect 90 per cent.of payments to have been authorized by the end of March.
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