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Most of the asthma medicines eligible for 60-day prescribing are preventers. You can search the list to see if yours is eligible here: https://www.health.gov.au/cheaper-medicines/60-day-dispensing-pbs-medicines-and-current-item-codes
Note: You will need to search the list by your medicine's active ingredient name, not the brand name.
Reliever inhalers are not included in 60-day prescribing, because they are intended for short-term symptom relief rather than ongoing management.
With 60-day prescribing, you can get 60 days’ worth of medicine for the price of one prescription on eligible medicines.
In Australia, the PBS helps reduce the cost of many essential medicines, making them more affordable. However, most people still need to pay a co-payment when they fill their prescriptions:
- If you have a concession card, you’re currently paying a maximum co-payment of $7.70 per prescription.
- If you don’t have a concession card, your maximum co-payment is $31.60.
Most asthma preventers are already capped at this maximum co-payment. So, with a 60-day prescription, you will get two inhalers* for your co-payment, instead of one.
A person prescribed one 60-day PBS asthma medicine for $31.60 would pay $189.60 annually instead of $379.20.
If your asthma medicine costs less than the maximum co-payment—say, $20 per prescription for people who don’t have a concession card—you might not get two medicines for the price of one. You will still see savings, and the cost for a 60-day supply won’t exceed $31.60, but the amount you save will vary.
If you choose a premium brand-name medicine when a generic version is available, your pharmacist will need to charge you more. This additional charge is called a Brand Premium. The Brand Premium varies depending on the price of the medicine, and it can push the cost above the PBS maximum co-payment of $7.70 or $31.60.
If you choose two premium brand-name inhalers under your 60-day prescription, you’ll need to pay the Brand Premium for each inhaler.
Brand Premium charges are always added on top of your co-payment, including after you reach the PBS Safety Net.
While this might increase your out-of-pocket costs, you always have the option to discuss generic alternatives with your doctor or pharmacist, which can help you avoid these extra charges.
The PBS Safety Net is designed to provide further financial relief for people who need a lot of medicines. Once you’ve reached the Safety Net threshold—$277.20 for concession holders and $1,647.90 for others—your co-payments are reduced. After reaching the threshold, for the remainder of that calendar year concession card holders pay nothing for their PBS medicines, while others pay a reduced co-payment of $7.70.
With the 60-day prescribing initiative, some people may save so much on their medicines that they no longer reach the PBS Safety Net threshold. While you may miss out on the reduced co-payments later in the year, it means you’ve spent less overall on your medicines.
The Closing the Gap (CTG) PBS co-payment program is another important initiative that helps reduce or remove the PBS co-payment for eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This program applies to all PBS medicines, including those approved for 60-day prescriptions. If you’re already benefiting from the CTG program and pay a reduced price or receive your PBS medicines for free, this arrangement will stay the same, even if your doctor prescribes a 60-day supply. This means you can continue to manage your asthma without any additional costs.
Not everyone with asthma will qualify for 60-day prescribing. To be eligible, your doctor needs to assess your asthma as ‘stable.’ Your doctor will consider factors like how often you experience symptoms, your lung function, and how well you manage your asthma each day. If your asthma is stable, your doctor may prescribe a 60-day supply of your medicine. If not, now might be the perfect time to review your asthma management with your doctor to get your symptoms under control.