The cost of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medicines will remain the same for at least 12 months as a freeze on the usual January 1 indexation rise comes into effect.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said it was the first time in more than 25 years the maximum amount people paid for PBS medicines didn’t rise with inflation.
Minister Butler said instead of increasing by 20 cents for concession cardholders and 90 cents for everyone else, maximum PBS copayments would remain at their current rate of $31.60 until the end of 2025, and at $7.70 until the end of 2029 for concession cardholders.
He said PBS copayments usually increased with indexation on January 1, in line with the Consumer Price Index.
“PBS copayments have increased every January since January 1997, except for two years when copayments didn’t increase for a subset of patients.
“The freeze on indexation of PBS copayments is estimated to save Australians almost half a billion dollars.”
Minister Butler said more pensioners and concession cardholders had also become eligible for free PBS medicines since the Safety Net threshold was reduced by 25 percent.
“Since July 2022, 66 million prescriptions have been issued for free and without any cost to patients, because of that lower Safety Net threshold.”
