Australians have saved $250 million on cheaper medicines in 2023 thanks to the Albanese Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and the introduction of 60-day prescriptions are working to reduce everyday costs for Australians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On 1 January 2023, for the first time in the 75-year history of the PBS, the Albanese Government lowered the maximum cost of prescription medications listed on the PBS saving Australians more than $240 million in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since September 2023, 60-day prescriptions have made selected PBS medicines cheaper for Australians with a range of ongoing stable health conditions, already saving patients over $7.2 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Almost 2 million 60-day scripts were dispensed between September and December 2023, and with the number of medications available as 60-day scripts set to rise to 300 by September this year the savings will continue to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Albanese Government also reduced the PBS Safety Net Threshold, so more pensioners and concession cardholders get free medicines, sooner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This has reduced the yearly medicine costs for those 2 million Australians by as much as 25 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From 1 February 2024, Australians with advanced melanoma will have access to the combination medicine <\/strong>nivolumab with relatlimab (Opdualag\u00ae).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opdualag will be listed for the first time to treat patients with advanced stage melanoma that has spread to other parts of the body and cannot be removed by surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Australia has the highest melanoma rates in the world with one person dying from melanoma every six hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Around 940 patients each year are expected to benefit from this listing. Without the PBS subsidy, they could pay around $315,000 per course of treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, the Government is supporting local pharmacies to continue their crucial role in the healthcare system, especially in regional, rural and remote parts of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through the Regional Pharmacy Transition Allowance and the Regional Pharmacy Maintenance Allowance, the government provided $26 million to eligible pharmacies between 1 July and 31 December 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe know Australians have been doing it tough, which is why we are providing cost of living relief without adding to inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur cheaper medicines policy means over the past year Australians have saved $250 million on prescriptions \u2013 this is real cost of living relief, putting money back into people\u2019s wallets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCombined with our tripling of the Medicare bulk billing incentive and opening of 58 Urgent Care Clinics across the country, we\u2019re making it easier and cheaper for Australians to see a doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCheaper medicines have helped Australians save over $250 million on medicines in 2023, with more savings to come in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith cheaper medicines we are supporting millions of Australians with chronic, ongoing conditions so they don\u2019t have to choose between health care and paying the bills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe listing of Opdualag will be life changing for Australians living with advanced stage melanoma. Instead of paying over $315,000 for treatment now the maximum they will pay is PBS prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Albanese Government is continuing to make medicines cheaper so that all Australians can access the medication they need regardless of their bank balance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Australians have saved $250 million on cheaper medicines in 2023 thanks to the Albanese Government. Changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and the introduction of 60-day prescriptions are working to reduce everyday costs for Australians. On 1 January 2023, for the first time in the 75-year history of the PBS, the Albanese Government lowered … Continue reading “Australians save $250 million thanks to Albanese Government cheaper medicines”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24868"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24869,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24868\/revisions\/24869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Minister Mark Butler said:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n