Health Minister Mark Butler will on Wednesday introduce legislation to reduce the maximum general co-payment for medicines on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme from $42.50 to $30.
Health Minister Mark Butler will introduce a bill to cut the price of medicines as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responds to cost-of-living concerns.James Brickwood
during the election campaign,with the Coalition pledging a $10 reduction and Labor the $12.50 cut.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will say his government is “serious about delivering on our election commitments and easing the cost-of-living pressures” in the first lowering of PBS medicine costs in the scheme’s 75-year history.
The change will apply to about 17 million full-priced general scripts filled by 3 million Australians a year,such as Apixaban to prevent stroke,asthma medication Fluticasone Propionate + Salmeterol and diabetes drug Sitagliptin + Metformin.
But the cuts will affect only a small minority of subsidised medicines,which cost the federal budget $13.6 billion a year. This is because many common medicines are already sold below the maximum PBS price as they have fallen off patent and are even cheaper in discount pharmacies.
Butler said the change would put close to $200 million back in the pockets of Australians each year and mean more people could get their medicine without worrying so much about the cost.
He pointed to Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing almost 1 million Australians delayed or didn’t fill their prescriptions in 2019-20 due to the high cost of medications.
“We must do better than this and we will,” he said.
In 2019,then-health minister Greg Hunt tried to slash the cost of PBS medicines for all Australians by doubling the number of tablets that could be dispensed in a single trip to the chemist,for a single dispensing fee,but.
An expensive ovarian cancer drug that can prolong patients’ lives is being added to the PBS,making it more affordable.
Under the Albanese government’s PBS changes,an individual could save up to $150 a year if they were taking one full-priced medication a month,or as much as $300 to $450 a year for two or three medications.
Concession card holders,who pay a maximum of $6.80 for prescription medicines on the PBS,will not be affected.
Pharmacy Guild president Professor Trent Twomey said members would “thank and welcome the action” to reduce the cost of medicines for patients,who were “having to choose between food on the table and medicine for their family”.
The guild had sought a reduction of up to $20,which Chemist Warehouse chief operating officer Mario Tascone said was a “cash grab” aimed at helping its 5800 pharmacy owner members to compete with discount chains.
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