As the New Year creeps up on us, there has been two important changes made to the PBS system effective from January 1st 2016. These changes affect which medications are covered under the PBS scheme, and the minimum price to be paid by you, and if there are any real savings to the patient.
Important Changes to How the Government Funds Your Medicines From 1st January 2016
From the 1st of January 2016 the government will be de-listing a number of medications from the PBS. The medications are ones that are available over the counter so that government has decided to no longer fund them.
Please be assured that these medications will continue to be available, but you will no longer be able to have them covered under a pension or concession card, nor will you require a prescription to buy them. Some of the items will continue to be covered for repat (DVA) clients.
The affected medicines are listed on the bottom of this page. Of note, the list includes Panamax®, Panadol Osteo® and Aspirin tablets, which are some of the most widely used medicines on the PBS.
For all of these medicines, we will ensure we offer you the best possible over the counter price and we will continue to offer our price match guarantee on all of the products we stock.
Medicines no longer on the PBS from 1st January 2016
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Mylanta P Liquid and tablets Gastrogel Liquid Gaviscon P Liquid Aspirin 100mg tablets Solprin 300mg tablets Dulcolax Suppositories Bisacodyl Suppositories Chlorsig Eye Drops and Ointment Ferro-tab Ferro-F-tab Folic Acid tabs 500mcg & 5mg |
Vitamin B-12 Injection Mycostatin/Nilstat Oral Drops Paracetamol 500mg tabs (Panadol, Panamax, Parapane) Panamax Liquid Paracetamol 665mg tablets (Panadol Osteo/Osteomol) |
PBS Prescription Prices
Effective as of next year pharmacies will be allowed to discount the PBS patient co-payment (the minimum amount you are required to pay per prescription whilst the government covers the rest) by up to $1. This means that instead of paying $6.20 per prescription item, you can pay only $5.20. There are a couple of points to keep in mind though about this system, and I have created a little table below to show you the difference it can make to you.
Please note a few points:
- This allowable discount is subsidised by the pharmacy, and the government will save it's money by not allowing us to count the discount towards your PBS safety net value.
- Any prescriptions dispensed early under the Safety Net 20 day rule cannot be discounted under law.
Please find here a table of the 2 options you may have. Please advise us as to which option would you like to take, and remember that we always have our Price Match policy in effect.
OPTION A OPTION B
| $1 Discount | No Discount | |
| Pay $5.20 per script | Pay $6.20 per script | |
| Safety Net Value = $372 | Safety Net Value = $372 | |
| Number of scripts needed = 72 | Number of scripts needed = 60 | |
| Reach Safety Net LATER | Reach Safety Net EARLIER | |
| LESS TIME in 2016 with FREE scripts | MORE TIME in 2016 with FREE scripts |
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