fishyface

Hello

Hope you can help.....I'm on prescription drugs long term......how does it work in Australia for the same drugs?? Does Medicare cover them? Will I need to pay privately?

One of my drugs is mega £££'s and could not afford to pay for it unfortunately.

Lucky for us we passed medicals and have our visas.

ATB

Wol

If it's on the PB list I would think you pay the subsidised price, if not the full price. But there *is* an annual figure for a family above which you get some tax relief.

ABCDiamond

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Safety Net

A standard PBS prescription cost from 1st Jan 2010 is $33.30 for general patients, Adults and Children.
This should be the Maximum figure you pay for a standard Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) prescription.

There are two PBS safety net thresholds - one for general patients and the other for Concession Card patients.

The general patient safety net threshold for 2010 is $1,281.30

When patients and/or their families have spent that amount, they can apply for a Safety Net Concession Card and pay only $5.40 per prescription for the rest of that calendar year.

There are some prescriptions that are not covered under the PBS scheme, and are therefore not subsidised at all, meaning that these can be quite expensive.

fishyface

Thank you for the info. I have now found the info required. Pleased to see that I would be covered on a $33 prescription. The drugs would cost over $40,000 otherwise - triple UK cost!!

mark213

Still PBS is a way more expensive than the Uk - especially with repeats