Cheaper medicines to get even cheaper

The Albanese Labor Government is making cheaper medicines even cheaper – with a script to cost Territorians no more than $25 under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, writes Marion Scrymgour.

Marion Scrymgour at the Mparntwe Urgent Care Clinic.

The Albanese Labor Government is making cheaper medicines even cheaper – with a script to cost Territorians no more than $25 under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

Having already slashed the cost of medicines – with the largest cut to the cost of medicines in the history of the PBS in 2023 – we’re now going even further with this $689 million investment in the budget.

This is a more than 20 per cent cut in the maximum cost of PBS medicines, which will save Australians over $200 million each year. The last time that PBS medicines cost no more than $25 was 2004.

Pensioners and concession cardholders will continue to benefit from the freeze to the cost of their PBS medicines, with the cost frozen at its current level of $7.70 until 2030.

This builds on action we’ve already taken to deliver cost of living relief through Cheaper Medicines, including:

> More free and cheaper medicines, sooner, with a 25 per cent reduction in the number of scripts a patient must fill before the PBS Safety Net kicks in

> The largest cut to the cost of medicines in the history of the PBS, with the maximum cost of a script falling to $30, from $42.50

> 60-day prescriptions saving time and money for thousands of Territorians with an ongoing health condition - 60-day scripts mean twice the medication for the cost of a single prescription.

> Freezing the cost of PBS medicines, with co-payments not rising with inflation for all Australians for the first time in 25 years.

Lingiari MP Marion Scrymgour

With a Medicare card, people who need common medicines on the PBS will save up to $180 per year, per medicine.

That means fewer visits to GPs saving patients money and freeing up our local doctors.

The Albanese Labor Government went to the last election not only promising cheaper medicines but to relieve the pressure of the cost of living for Territorians.

Including making the single largest investment in Medicare since it’s creation, with $8.5 billion to deliver an additional 18 million bulk-billed GP visits each year.

We have also delivered:

• $300 off your power bill to every household

• A tax cut for every taxpayer

• Cheaper childcare that sees families paying up to $2000 less per year per child

• Fee Free TAFE

• Cutting 20 per cent HECS debts

• Free Medicare Urgent Care clinics

• Pay rises for aged care and childcare workers

• And we have overseen three increases to the minimum wage

Dutton and the LNP have opposed all of these initiatives.

When Peter Dutton was Health Minister, he cut $50 billion from public hospitals, cut funding for Medicare, and tried to end bulk-billing.

When Peter Dutton cuts, Territorians pay.

The contrast this election is clear: cheaper medicines with a re-elected Albanese Government, or the frankly terrifying legacy of Peter Dutton, who wants medicines to cost more, not less.