OT Vision question...you guys know everything ...

Spawn of the devil

Nothing is ever in focus properly

And they are expensive

Indeed. It was a retinal image that found my cancer.

It really is, isn't it? And it's a difficult concept to explain. I can't think of a suitable term for it though TBH.

Statistically, your GP gets to know you a lot better from about 63 onwards.

The NHS is not underfunded !. We spend £150 Billion per year and now have £2 trillion in DEBT because too many people are freeloading. Only the top 25% of taxpayers paid enough *net* tax and NI during their lives (after discounting 'free' education, child benefit, NHS etc) to cover the costs of providing 'free' NHS for 30+ years of retirement.

They correct for astigmatism. Farming is mostly outdoors often wet/dusty. Glasses are a nuisance to wear although rain protection might explain the flat cap wearers:-) RDS may care to comment on my unproven theory that wearing glasses leads to an earlier loss of accommodation. (I'm now 77) I carry reading glasses on a neck string and use when needed.

I have a bi-focal pair in the car for night driving.

Well they'll need to be paid for use of the facility, the staff, and the kit, won't they? In which case they're just transferring some NHS money to another bit of the NHS.

There's no justification for pensioners not paying NI - excepting those with only the state pension.

The majority of pensioners with a second pension will already be paying Income Tax; which is levied on all income which exceed their personal allowance. Re-classifying some of this tax as National Insurance contributions wouldn't generate any more Income for the Govt, but would simply create more unnecessary bureaucracy. More especially given that "The National Insurance Fund" is simply an accounting convenience rather than an instrument of Govt policy/

Given that you might reasonably have been expected to be paying income tax yourself on your own additional pensions, and would thus realise the pointlessness of any such additional measure, the fact that you don't, comes as somewhat of a surprise.

Or maybe not.

michael adams

...

I suspect he is suggesting increasing the tax rate on pensions by adding an arbitrary extra tax and calling it NI. This would be the height of opportunism, especially if compulsory NI wasn't levied on other forms of investment income received by the non-employed.

I agree that it might be better to scrap NI altogether and just raise standard rate income tax by teh equivalent amount.

Yep, double VAT or income tax to pay for it. You only get what you pay for!

Yep, because there is not one tax on top of another. Income tax is not paid on the gross amount but the net amount after the NI tax. For a pensioner taking the NI tax first would reduce the amount of income tax payable on the income left, hence possibly equivalent of zero net benefit for the tax man, especially if introducing another level of bureaucracy to the process.[1]

There is also the employers contribution to the NI tax and not just the employees. Wouldn't pensioners have to pay both?

NI insurance for those not in work nor seeking work is around £16 a week.

I perceive that many people think pensioners don't pay any tax on their income. This may be true if you are below the tax threshold that applies to everyone in the country and no tax would be paid on the Government old age pension because it is below this threshold. Anyone with an extra pension that takes you over the threshold pays income tax at the same rate as anyone else.

Income tax rate could be increased to pay for the NHS but again this may not raise the amount required. Post Covid where the number of unemployed genuinely seeking work is greater than the number of suitable jobs available and the Government attempting to claw back massive expenditure etc. it is likely to be at least another few years of austerity, especially in terms of static income for most people. Reduce the amount that people can spend because of a higher income tax and the total VAT take reduces and the number of jobs available reduces, requiring the Government to pay out more in unemployment benefit. Some measures may work in strong expanding economy but not necessary in a depressed economy. I personally wouldn't regard a 10 or 20% growth from the low of a Covid 18 months to be a strong growing economy.

Around my way it appears that many of the NHS "eye" consultants are also involved with a private clinic built close to the local NHS hospital. I've had two NHS funded appointments (arranged by the NHS) at this clinic. Both NHS and private patients fill out the same form but for NHS patients the payment details are overwritten by a large black printed block.

Be afraid be very afraid. The quickening?

Different rules apply in the four constituent countries. No charge in Wales, for example, from 60.

I only need glasses for distance - so I chose lenses which are fairly shallow (vertically). I can easily see below the lens for speedo., etc. Mind, my car the speedo is extremely easy to read even if a bit out of focus.

Accommodation tends to wane notably in your 40s. I'm 47 though and still getting away with doing close work in my distance glasses. I'm short sighted so I can whip them off for added comfort/magnification.

Please elaborate on your theory.... Wearing specs to correct what leads to early loss of accommodation?

It's yonks since I qualified and don't practice as such lately but i'm sure that reduced accommodation comes about mainly, if not solely, by the hardening of the lens. But it could have something to do with the ciliary muscle and perhaps that could possibly be affected by the way the eyes are used over the years. It's like myopia control I suppose, much is known but not all.

Despite being an optician I find it remarkable that in the times we live in half of us are walking round with ground bits of plastic in front of our eyes.

I meant the opticians practice gets a payment from the private clinic for referring there, in case I wasn't clear.

Unless i'm missing your point.