The impact of co-payment increases on dispensings of government-subsidised medicines in Australia

Patient co-payments for medicines subsidised under the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)increased by 24% in January 2005. We investigated whether this increase and two related co-payment changes were associated with changes in dispensings of selected subsidised medicines in Australia.

The study findings suggest that recent increase in Australian PBS co-payments have had a significant effect on dispensings of prescription medicines. The results suggest large increase in co-payments impact on patients' ability to afford essential medicines. Of major concern is that, despite special subsidies for social security beneficiaries in the Australian system, the recent co-payment increase has particularly impacted on utilisation for this group.