In short:
Pharmacists say the bureaucracy of the PBS Safety Net, a government scheme which gives millions of Australians cheaper medicine, is so "clunky" thousands of people are missing out.
Examples of the scheme's shortcomings, advocates say, include needing to use snail mail to file paperwork and not having a centralised system to calculate patients' spending.
What's next?
Consumer advocates and pharmacists have called on the government to invest in the scheme.
Close to 500k Australians could have missed out on savings at the pharmacy [from the PBS Safety Net]
Submitted 2 weeks ago by MHLoppy@fedia.io to australia@aussie.zone
princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
This is so true. I use a single pharmacy, which offer to handle all of the paperwork, so I don’t miss out. But if there’s a shortage of something and they’re out, I just miss out on that script fill by going elsewhere. I could grab a sticker from that pharmacy and take it back to mine but that’s too much mental load honestly.
sqgl@beehaw.org 2 weeks ago
What sticker?
princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
The way the form is set out, it’s supposed to be hand written, with fields about the medicine, the pharmacist that dispensed it, the date, and it’s cost. Instead most pharmacists will just use the copy of the prescription label that gets printed out, because that includes all the above details. Here’s the form in question: www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/pb240
You also have seperate forms for the actual application, which must be done by a pharmacist: www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/pb241
As well as a whole form to claim a refund if you didn’t get a medication for the safety net cost (either free for concession, or the reduced concession charge for general patients): www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/pb132
If the system were digitised none of these forms would need to exist. Keeping in mind that this data already is in a centralised system. I can go to myhealthrecord and see a list of all the scripts I’ve had filled and when. The only info it’s missing is how much I’ve paid, as pharmacies often subsidise the rate a bit. I pay $6.90 for my scripts instead of $7.70, and the safety net is based off real cost you’ve paid.
Anyway, sorry for the info dump, just something I’ve been frustrated with since I started interacting with this system.
null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Does it really work that way?
I thought you could get multiple pharmacies to give you the list of PBS stuff they’ve dispensed for you.
There’s a form for it online. I didn’t realise the pharmacist had to send it off.