Reforms to the Closing the Gap Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Co-payment Program were announced on 12 June 2020, as part of the Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement.
Some of the changes being implemented from 1 July 2021 are:
- Any PBS prescriber can register eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for the Program if they are not already registered.
- PBS prescribers will no longer be legally required to write or electronically print ‘CTG’ on eligible PBS prescriptions for registered Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. However, annotation of a PBS script will help Community Pharmacies and Section 94 Approved Private Hospital pharmacists know that the patient is registered for the program, when dispensing the medicines.
- General Schedule PBS prescriptions issued by PBS prescribers within public hospitals will now be eligible for the Program, provided they are dispensed by a community pharmacy or Section 94 Approved Private Hospital pharmacy.
The fact sheets below provide more detail in regards to the Program reforms for various stakeholder groups:
- Fact Sheet 1 – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Fact Sheet 2 – Community pharmacies
- Fact Sheet 3 – Hospital pharmacies
- Fact Sheet 4 – Prescribers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners and peak bodies
Also included is a Frequently Asked Questions document covering all stakeholder groups.
Please note that the Australian Department of Health’s Closing the Gap PBS Co-payment Program webpage will reflect current arrangements up to, and including, 30 June 2021. The new arrangements will be reflected on the Department’s webpage from 1 July 2021 onwards.
