Fed Govt to directly fund pharmacist-prescribed antibiotics and contraceptives for 250,000 women
About 250,000 women aged 18-55 with concession cards will be eligible for the cheaper drugs, the government says.
The Federal Government is planning to fund pharmacist-prescribed antibiotics and contraceptives outside of the PBS as part of a trial.
From January 2027, concessional patients prescribed S4 treatments for contraception and UTIs by pharmacists under state-based programs will have the cost capped at $7.70 for the next 12 months, the Federal Government says.
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia says the federal funding will also remove out-of-pocket costs for pharmacist consultations for concessional patients seeking UTI antibiotics or contraceptives.
It is a shift from what the government pledged in 2025: to fund these scripts through the PBS at a cost to taxpayers of $100 million.
