Campaigners say this would hit more than a million older people who would be unable to afford vital medicines if they had to pay themselves. The move could come into force as soon as April, with the £9.35 prescription fee increased at the same time.
The Government put forward the proposal last year, in a move it calculates could bring in an extra £300million for the NHS by 2026/27.
If it presses ahead with the change the age for free NHS prescriptions would be pushed back to 66, in line with the state pension age.
Qualification would then climb with state pension age, which starts to increase to 67 from 2026.
In England, patients receive free prescriptions in England when they turn 60, which has not changed since 1974 for women and 1995 for men.
Yet they are free for everybody in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
READ MORE: How you can claim free medication as NHS prescription charges set to rise
New campaign group the Prescription Charges Coalition is leading the fight against the proposals.
Chair Laura Cockram, who is head of policy and campaigns at Parkinson’s UK, said they…
