The cost of hundreds of medicines will be halved for millions of Australians with chronic illness, who will be able to buy 60 days' worth of medicine for the price of a single prescription from September, under a major and controversial shake-up of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) in next month's budget.
Health Minister Mark Butler said about six million Australians will be able to collect a two-month supply of some common medicines rather than one when they pick up their script, effectively halving the cost.
"Over the past five years, patients with chronic disease have literally shelled out hundreds of millions of dollars in co-payments that they didn't need to shell out," Mr Butler said.
