Prescription Medicine

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  Doey21 on 20/09/2011 - 22:53

  Pricing is fixed if you're on concession, or if the product ie elligible for rebate (by the pharmacy) from the government for general medicare holders (i.e greater than 34.20) For eg, Look up Lipitor 80mg. That will be 34.20 whereever you go (there are a few ways to get around this but the rule generally stands). However for medicines below 34.20, everything else is fair game and they can charge you whatever they like. Hope that helps

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    slamdunka on 20/09/2011 - 23:02

    So anything under 34.20 isnt part of the PBS and can be priced however they want. Is that right? $34.20 is the cutoff?

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      Doey21 on 20/09/2011 - 23:52

      it can be included in your PBS financial total, but isn't claimable. Just use this as a guideline, If you have to SIGN (this is important) a script for it and it costs 34.20 (or more if its got a premium), then generally its the same everywhere. If its under 34.20, then it differs chemist to chemist. If its 34.20 and doesn't need to be signed, its also different from chemist to chemist (they price it at that to seem 'neat'. Generally if you're buying products, generics can save you a lot of money and are bioequivalent.

      But as a general guide, anything under 34.20 (and this will change every year) is suppose to be the same everywhere.

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  EnALup on 20/09/2011 - 23:23

  +1

  Also generic salts are cheaper than the branded ones. The link you gave is a generic one. The chemist might be giving u a big brand.
  Secondly, if you have a healthcare card or pension card, prices goes down.

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    unity1 on 21/09/2011 - 20:56

    These generic brand medicines are a farce. Don't get fooled into believing the chemist is trying to save you money. The reality is the chemist makes a small fortune from every generic they sell. Whilst in most cases the consumer can save around a $1 or two the chemist can make at least a 100% or even much, much more profit from generic sales. The worst scenario is when the chemist gives you a generic over the named brand when there's not even a price difference. If your chemist ever does this to you then change your chemist. You don't want a chemist that puts profits over people.

    An increasing number of generics are starting to be made in India. Not all medications detail where they are made. But my preference would be to buy Australian made or the original brand when it comes to prescription medication.

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  retiredfeline on 21/09/2011 - 00:06

  Thanks for that informative post Doey21.

  Are online chemists able to sell more than repeat at a time, or do they also have to stick to the 21 day rule like stores? I was wondering if I could order more than one repeat at once to qualify for free delivery.

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    Doey21 on 21/09/2011 - 07:18

    +2

    It is dependant on the pharmacy. The 21 day rule is more of a guide, rather than a stoneclad rule. The only time it really applies is if you're on the 'safety net' (i.e. if you spend over $1200 as a general patient on the pbs, or over 60 scripts as a concession). The safety net is designed to limit the cost of medications for people on a lot of drugs. However the 21 day rule is to stop people abusing it and hording medications.

    If the above does not apply to you, Most places are more than happy to ignore the 21 day rule. Some pharmacies choose to enforce the rule for certain medications (eg. Antidepressants or narcotics etc). This is due to professional judgement (as they may feel its risky for a depressed person to have access to have so many drugs). In regards to items such as Asthma Puffers, Cholesterol drugs etc, I'm usually more than happy to supply half a years worth if theyre too lazy to come back. I'm sure online pharmacies are more than happy to do it in most cases (with the exception of hypnotics, narcotics and steroids). Alternatively, you can ask your doctor to write "regulation 24" on the script. This will allow you to get all your repeats in one go and no pharmacy will ever deny that.

    Hope that helps