When you or family members need to take several types of medication, the costs can begin to take up a considerable chunk of your budget. However, there are a number of ways you can reduce your outlay for medicines without it affecting your health.
These tips will help you identify ways to minimise your pharmacy costs and point out what you need to know about government assistance.
Understand How Different Brands Can Reduce Costs
Many medicines have identical active ingredients but are sold under different brand names.
Be sure to ask your pharmacist if there is an alternative for your prescription in a generic and less expensive option.
Be aware however, that there are a small number of situations where a different brand may not be an option. If you have intolerance to certain ingredients like preservatives, lactose, dyes and sweeteners, a generic brand may be ruled out.
If you have any doubts, always ask the pharmacist about the exact ingredients and check carefully with your doctor about which substances you need to avoid.
Take Full Advantage of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)
Every Australian resident with a Medicare card is eligible to receive the PBS subsidy. Ensure that your pharmacy has your Medicare card number so that they are able to dispense the subsidised prescriptions for you.
The majority of medicines prescribed in Australia are made more affordable through a government subsidy known as the PBS. Many medicines on the PBS list would cost substantially more if the government did not make up the difference from your contribution payment.
Know Your Safety Net Threshold
The government sets a maximum limit for the amount that a person needs to pay for PBS medicines annually. This is known as your co-payment, and when you reach the safety net threshold amount, you then receive free or concessional medicines for the remainder of the year.
To make it easy to keep up to date with how much you have spent, your pharmacy can keep a record of your PBS medicines on their computer system. You can get a printout showing your total spending at any time.
If you use a number of different pharmacies, you can get a print out record from each of them, or alternatively, you may prefer to keep your own record on the forms available from any pharmacy.
It is important to make sure that all family members are included together in a single record to gain maximum advantages.
Save on Over the Counter Medicines
There are a number of cases where buying medicines with a prescription, instead of buying them over the counter, will save you money.
Common pain relievers, for example, are less expensive on prescription. Buying this way also counts towards your Safety Net tally and will help you reach your threshold sooner.
Check if Different Strength Medicines Are an Option
You may save by buying a larger dosage size of your medicine. For example, perhaps you could buy tablets of a higher dosage and take less of them or split them in two. Discuss if this is an option with our doctor.
You should also discuss the option of getting an authority prescription if you require a higher dose of medicine than usual. With an authority prescription, you will only need to pay the amount for the standard dosage.
Avoid Therapeutic Group Premiums
In cases where several groups of medicines treat a particular condition and all do the same job equally effectively, the government chooses to pay the cost of the least expensive. The difference that you pay is called the therapeutic group premium.
If you need to take one of these categories of medicine, your doctor can request an exemption, and you will not need to pay.
By following these easy tips, you will be surprised at the savings you are able make in the pharmacy this year.
