My family uses a lot of medicines. How does the PBS help people with high medicine costs?
A. From 1 January 2009, if you’re a general patient who needs a lot of medicines, once you’ve reached the Safety Net threshold of $1264.90, you will pay the concessional rate ($5.30) for further PBS prescribed items for the remainder of the calendar year. From 1 January 2009, if you or your family receive PBS medicines at the concessional rate, your patient copayment per prescription item will be removed once you’ve reached the Safety Net threshold of $318.00. Further PBS prescribed medicines are provided free for the remainder of the calendar year.
From 1 January 2010, if you’re a general patient who needs a lot of medicines, once you’ve reached the Safety Net threshold of $1,281.30, you will pay the concessional rate ($5.40) for further PBS prescribed items for the remainder of the calendar year. From 1 January 2010, if you or your family receive PBS medicines at the concessional rate, your patient copayment per prescription item will be removed once you’ve reached the Safety Net threshold of $324.00. Further PBS prescribed medicines are provided free for the remainder of the calendar year.
