Pharmacy Daily | Guild responds on discount

A war of words has erupted over the $1 PBS co-payment discount, with the Pharmacy Guild yesterday warning of the flow-on effects that will impact concessional patients who choose to receive the full reduction on their prescriptions. “All Australians need to be aware of the impact that Federal Government changes to the PBS will have on the number of prescriptions they will need to fill in order to reach their Safety Net entitlement,” commented the Pharmacy Guild in a statement. “This means that concessional patients who choose to receive a full one dollar discount will need to fill an additional 11 prescriptions during the year to reach their Safety Net and access free medicines.” The Guild’s rebuttal comes in light of last Fri’s announcement by Chemist Warehouse, which intends to pass on the full dollar markdown to their customers; with its commercial group manager stating there will be “absolutely no effect on the Safety Net - discounting or not you need to spend the exact same amount of money in a year to qualify” (PD yesterday). Changes to the PBS co-payment will go into full effect from 01 Jan.

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