Australian PBS cost set to fall 4.7%

Australia's annual A$6.0 billion ($4.5 billion) cost of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme will fall 4.7%, or A$260.0 million in the coming financial year due to an ongoing reduction in the numbers of prescriptions that patients are filling. The reduction in 2006-7 is anticipated due to lower-than-expected growth in certain drugs, such as entire classes of medicines used to lower cholesterol and treat mental disorders.

PBS figures last year showed a slowdown in prescriptions after the federal government increased co-payment (the amount patients pay for medicines at pharmacies) about 20% from January 1, 2005. Last year, the government also increased the number of prescriptions that patients need to fill each year before they become eligible under the PBS safety net scheme. This caps the total annual amount a patient pays, and any further amount is paid by the PBS.