Millions of Australians will be able to buy two months’ worth of medicine for the price of a single prescription in a move that will slash out-of-pocket costs for medicines and GP visits.
The health minister, Mark Butler, on Wednesday announced the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme changes, which are part of next month’s budget.
Under the changes, about six million Australians will be collect two months’ worth of medicine for the price of one month, essentially halving the cost.
The changes will take effect from 1 September and apply to 320 common medicines, including for chronic conditions such as heart disease, high cholesterol, Crohn’s disease and hypertension.
Butler said the move will save patients more than $1.6bn over the next four years.
General patients can expect savings of up to $180 a year for each medicine, while concessions card holders will be $43.80 better off for each medicine.
The Australian Medical Association has been pushing for the change, which was recommended in August 2018 by the independent pharmaceutical benefits advisory committee.
The policy was welcomed by the patient advocacy peak body the Consumer Health Forum but will probably spark backlash from pharmacists, who will see a cut to their government subsidies for dispensing medicine due to fewer patient visits.
Despite giving patients two months of medicine for the price of one, the government expects to save money from the measure through fewer GP visits and lower pharmacy subsidies. It promised that every dollar saved will be reinvested into community pharmacies.
With repeats and two-for-one scripts, doctors can give patients 12 months’ supply of a medicine before a new prescription is required.
The government says GPs will retain the option to issue a one-month supply if there is any risk to the patient. It insists the policy won’t add to medicine shortages because overall demand for medicines will remain unchanged.
“After nine years of cuts and neglect, the government has looked at all options to make healthcare more affordable for Australians,” Butler said.
He said changes from 1 January cutting the maximum co-payment for medicine from $42.50 to $30 had “already saved Australians over $58 million on 5.1 million prescriptions”.
“Every year, nearly a million Australians are forced to delay or go without a medicine that their doctor has told them is necessary for their health.
“This cheaper medicines policy is safe, good for Australians’ hip pockets and most importantly good for their health.”
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Dr Elizabeth Deveny, the chief executive of the Consumer Health Forum, said the change would provide “assistance for cost-of-living pressures” allowing patients to “better look after their health”.
“There’s lots of evidence that many Australians are choosing paying their mortgage or rent over the medicine they need, getting the kid’s medicine but not their own, or the doctor gives them a list of medicines and they get some but not all of it, or they take their medicine every second day,” she told Guardian Australia.
Deveny said the policy was a “huge boon” for patients in rural and remote areas who have to travel great distances for prescriptions, or those who require additional assistance from carers.
She said patients’ “No 1” demand was still “timely, affordable and fair access to primary care”, urging the government to do more to help Australians “to see their health professional, get in quickly when they need to”.
The Australian Medical Association president, Steve Robson, said the policy had “enormous potential to make it easier to see a GP”.
“A lot of people won’t have to go for repeat prescriptions and that will free up an enormous number of GP appointments to allow people who have changes in conditions to get appointments,” he told Guardian Australia.
Robson said the policy was “long overdue” and “a great outcome” and to help the “increasing proportion of Australians skipping medicines just because can’t afford them”.
The Pharmacist Guild of Australia has been lobbying for its members to have power to prescribe common medications, after a pilot scheme in Queensland and similar trials in New South Wales and Victoria. GPs oppose that measure.