PHOTO: Essential medicines should be more affordable for more Australians this year.
It is one government decision that has copped zero criticism and has been welcomed by people across the country – whether it affects them or not.
Late last year Parliament passed a legislation to lower the maximum co-payment cost of PBS medicines which will prove highly beneficial for many rural and regional patients in 2023.
The new, lower cost of PBS medicines came into effect on New Year’s Day, meaning the most patients will now pay for a PBS-listed medication is $30, down from $42.50.
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) began as a limited scheme in 1948, with free medicines for pensioners and a list of 139 ‘life-saving and disease preventing’ medicines free of charge for others in the community…