January 1 is a landmark date – it is the first time in the history of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) that prices have gone down and not up and that will likely mean thousands of people who could not afford medicines will find it easier on the hip pocket.
The maximum cost of PBS listed medicines for most patients is set to drop from $42.50 to $30, a move following Labor promises to cut the cost of the medicines and Parliament passing legislation late last year to lower the maximum co-payment cost.
It’s a win for some 19 million people, many of whom struggle to afford their medicines, according to Professor Trent Twomey, National President of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, who says in 2019/20 close to 900,000 Australians did not get their prescriptions filled simply because they were unaffordable.
“As health professionals, this disturbed us immensely and led to our “Affordable Medicines Now” campaign which pressured both parties to commit to lowering the cost of PBS medicines in the lead up to the last election.
“It’s a credit to our politicians that they listened to those concerns and gave a bi-partisan commitment to lower the maximum co-payment for PBS listed medicines after the election,” Prof Twomey said.
But he said the war on high-cost prescriptions is not over. In an effort to make medicines universally affordable, the PGA is pushing to lower the co-payment even lower, targeting a $19 maximum co-pay.
“Reducing the maximum co-payment to $19 will mean an additional 30% of PBS medicines are covered,” Prof Twomey said.
