Latest news: Pharmaceutical benefits scheme

A GoFundMe page has been started to help Canberra mum of two, 36-year-old Keely, access a potentially life-saving drug for cancer treatment that will cost tens of thousands of dollars as it’s not covered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

Australians paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for advanced melanoma treatment could soon see their costs slashed.

From today, thousands of patients with type two diabetes and kidney disease will be able to access vital medication through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Medicines must be cheaper and easier to access so doctors have more time for their patients, the peak body for GPs says.

More than 1.6 million discounted prescriptions were filled in January after the maximum co-payment for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme was discounted. 

Medicare will cover long consultations by GPs to prescribe COVID-19 antivirals within days, Health Minister Mark Butler says.

Eligibility for potentially lifesaving COVID-19 antiviral treatments is to be widened.

Australians now have cheaper access to treatments for breast cancer, spinal muscular atrophy and the painful inflammatory condition EoE.