From 1 January 2026, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) general patient co-payment for prescription medicines reduced from $31.60 to $25 for Medicare card holders. The concessional co-payment will remain at $7.70 until 2030. These changes help keep the cost of PBS prescription medicines down.
Prescribers play a key role in informing patients about these changes and supporting them to access affordable medicines. Informing your patients about the co-payment reduction and concessional co-payment freeze can help make sure your patients don’t delay filling their prescription medicines.
You can also help patients to save on prescriptions by switching them to a 60-day prescription if they are eligible. Prescribers can use their clinical judgement to decide whether patients receiving PBS medicines are eligible for 60-day prescriptions.
This includes:
- medical practitioners
- nurse practitioners
- optometrists.