Patients with chronic illnesses such as cystic fibrosis and multiple sclerosis could be given free medication, the Liberal Democrat leader said yesterday.
Charles Kennedy promised that his party would introduce an independent review of all prescription charges if it came to power, to make the list of exemptions fairer.
Launching the Lib Dem health manifesto, he said many people with long-term illnesses had to pay for life-saving drugs, while people with diabetes and epilepsy received free medication.
"Why? Because the exemptions list was drawn up in 1968, a different medical age," he said. "But treatments and drugs have changed and chances of survival have changed."
Mr Kennedy said his party had set aside £225m in its spending plans to implement the recommendations of a review. Its health manifesto also promises free personal care for those who need it, and a drive against "hidden waits" by spending £1.35bn to speed up diagnosis, £350m more than the government's plans.
The party would axe charges for eye and dental checks, and invest in tackling the long-term causes of health problems through schemes such as a "health MoT".
Both opposition parties pledged to axe government targets for the NHS yesterday.
Citing recent research from the British Medical Association, Paul Burstow, the Lib Dem health spokesman, said targets stopped "frontline staff from using their common sense and clinical judgment to treat the sickest the quickest". He said: "Targets can never hope to capture the complexity of healthcare. Targets put lives at risk."
In a separate press conference, Michael Howard said targets "prevent doctors and nurses using their experience and exercising their judgment; they distort clinical priorities and they are demoralising staff in our health service".
But the health minister John Hutton said: "Tough targets have helped bring down maximum waiting times for hospital operations. Patient choice - a concept the Lib Dems reject - will empower patients to get the type of treatment they want in the future."
