The Australian Government helps keep the costs of many medicines low for Australians through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).  After a medicine has been approved for sale in Australia by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the manufacturer of the medicine can apply for the cost to be subsidised under the PBS. When a medicine is subsidised under the PBS, you pay a lower price for the medicine and the government pays the rest.

Read more about how medicines are approved and about PBS subsidies.

Applications for a medicine to be listed on the PBS are considered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC). They decide if the new medicine has a better or equal health benefit compared to an existing one. They also look at the side effects. If these are acceptable, they recommend the medicine to be subsidised on the PBS. Usually, the government follows the recommendation, if the cost of the medicine to the government is acceptable.

If a medicine is subsidised by the Australian Government through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for someone with your medical condition, you will pay up to $41.30 per prescription, or $6.60 if you have a concession card. These prices are current from 1 January 2021.

If a medicine is not subsidised by the PBS for your condition, you will have to pay the full price for it. This will usually be between $10 and $100 per prescription but, in some cases, it can be a lot more. Part of the cost for medicines not on the PBS may be covered by some health funds, and prices may vary between pharmacies, so it may be worth shopping around.

If the cost of the medicine is a problem for you, ask your health professional if there are more affordable options.

Many medicines with the same active ingredient are available as different brands. 

When more than one brand of your prescription medicine is subsidised by the government under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, the scheme will pay no more than the lowest priced brand. If you buy a more expensive brand, you will need to pay the difference in cost — this is called the 'brand price premium'.

You can save money by asking if there is a less expensive brand of your prescription medicine. (Your pharmacist may also offer you a less expensive brand for a non-prescription medicine.)

Although you can save money by choosing less expensive brands, some people should not change brands. If your doctor wants you to stick with the brand they have prescribed, they will tick the 'Brand substitution not permitted' box on your prescription.

Read more about active ingredients in medicines, and active ingredient prescribing.

PBS-subsidised medicines are available to all Australian residents who hold a current Medicare card. Some overseas visitors are also eligible for PBS-subsidised medicines. When a medicine is subsidised, you pay part of the cost (a co-payment) and the government pays the rest. You can find out what the current co-payment thresholds are on the PBS website. About 80% of prescriptions dispensed in Australia are covered by the PBS.

Make sure you show your Medicare card when having a prescription filled to get a PBS medicine at the subsidised price. Many pharmacies can keep a record of your Medicare number so you only have to show your card once.

Some over-the-counter medicines are also subsidised if you have a prescription and meet the criteria for PBS subsidy. Ask your doctor to find out whether you can get a prescription for any of the over-the counter medicines you currently take.

When a prescription medicine is not subsidised, you can still obtain it on private prescription, but you will pay the full cost. In some cases, private health funds may pay part of the cost of medicines bought on private prescriptions.

Concession cards and PBS medicines

The costs for certain PBS-listed medicines may be further reduced for some people if they have one of the following cards:

• a Pensioner Concession Card
• a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card
• a Health Care Card or
• a Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) Gold, White, Orange or Pensioner Concession Card.

Some state and territory governments issue Seniors’ Cards, but these do not entitle you to the concession rate on PBS medicines.

Centrelink is responsible for Pensioner Concession Cards, Commonwealth Seniors Health Cards and Health Care Cards.

The Department of Veterans' Affairs is responsible for Gold, White and Orange Cards as well as DVA Pensioner Concession Cards. 

The Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS)

The Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS) is available for eligible veterans and their dependents, and includes more medicines than are on the PBS. Read more about eligibility for the different levels of cover.

The PBS Safety Net helps keep medicines costs down for some people, once they have spent a certain amount on PBS medicines in a single calendar year (January through to December). Once the Safety Net threshold is reached:

• payments for PBS medicines are reduced to the concessional rate for the rest of the calendar year, or
• PBS medicines are free for the rest of the year, the the person was already paying concessional rates for that medicine.

The Safety Net threshold is adjusted every year. Find out what the current thresholds are for eligible Australians on the PBS website.

To be eligible for free or cheaper medicines under the PBS Safety Net scheme, you must keep a record of how much you have spent on PBS medicines that year. 

• If you always use the same pharmacy, ask them to record your spending on their computer. 
• If you use different pharmacies, you can use a prescription record form to keep track of expenses. These forms are available at any pharmacy. Ask for a form the first time you buy a PBS medicine in a new year. Hand it to the pharmacist each time you have a prescription filled. The pharmacist will record the medicine and its cost on the form.
• You can also ask the pharmacies you use to provide a printout of your spending at any time.

When the threshold is reached, your pharmacist will give you a Safety Net Card so you can access free or cheaper medicines for the rest of the calendar year.

If you have a family, ask your pharmacy to combine the amounts spent on medicines into one Safety Net total, or use one prescription record form for the entire family. An eligible family can be made up of you, your spouse (including de facto spouse), dependent children under 16 years and dependent students under 25 years.

Keep in mind that the any amounts you pay on brand price premiums do not count towards your Safety Net threshold.

The Safety Net early supply rule

If you fill your repeat prescriptions too close together, the Safety Net early supply rule applies, meaning even if you are already using a Safety Net Card, you will have to pay your usual PBS patient payment for the medicine, not the Safety Net rate. If you haven't reached the Safety Net threshold, the cost of the medicine will not count towards your Safety Net tally.

This rule is designed to prevent people on a Safety Net Card using their card to obtain additional unnecessary supplies of their medicines at the end of a calendar year.

This rule applies only to certain PBS medicines, depending on the type of medicine and the quantity that can be supplied on a prescription.

If you've been taking several medicines for some time, a review of your medicines may show that you no longer need all of them, or that you're taking more than you need of one or more of them. Making sure you are only taking the medicines, and the doses, you need helps reduce the risk of medication problems, and can help save money as well.

You should never decide to stop a medicine just to save money. You should never stop taking a medicine unless your doctor or prescriber have discussed it with you, and there is a good clinical reason to stop. If you are concerned about medicine costs, talk with your health professional. They may be able to suggest ways to streamline your medicines that don't put your health in jeopardy.

Your GP can review your medicines or arrange for a qualified pharmacist to conduct a Home Medicines Review. Talk to your GP or pharmacist about getting a Home Medicines Review.

Some medicines are more closely monitored to make sure they are PBS-subsidised only for specific illnesses and particular groups of people. For these 'authority' prescription medicines, the prescriber has to either phone Medicare for approval or enter a special code on the prescription.

Authority prescriptions are also sometimes used if a higher than usual dose of a medicine is required. With an authority prescription, you will only pay the same amount as someone on the standard dose.

Ask your doctor to see if an authority prescription might be an option for you. If your doctor gives you an authority prescription, you can give it to the pharmacist as you would any other prescription.

Many medicines come in different strengths, so sometimes you can save money by buying a different strength of your medicine.

For example, if you usually take two 100 mg tablets of a medicine at a time, and a 200 mg strength is available, you may be able to take just one 200 mg tablet at a time. This may mean that you need fewer prescriptions, which can save you money and time. 

It is important to understand that the reverse of this – splitting higher-dose tablets or capsules – is not always a good idea. Some tablets/capsules have a special coating that stops working if it is cut/split. Splitting a tablet or a capsule can be difficult, and it is hard to be sure the split doses are the same.  

Before you change the dose, form or amount of a medicine, make sure you speak with your prescriber or pharmacist. They are there to understand your needs and help keep you healthy.

Where there are groups of medicines that all do similar jobs – that is, they are all about as safe and effective as each other for treating a particular condition – the government pays the cost of the least expensive one.

If you are not buying the least expensive medicine, you will need to pay the difference – this is called the 'therapeutic group premium'. If there is a medical reason you need to take a medicine with this premium, your doctor can ask for an exemption so you don't need to pay.

Only a small number of medicines have a therapeutic group premium. You can check the PBS website to see if your medicine is in this category.