Safety Net early supply rule

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme - Safety Net early supply rule

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Safety Net plays an important role in keeping medicines affordable. It is an effective way of helping to limit out-of-pocket expenses for people who need a large number of medicines. The Safety Net early supply rule means that for some PBS medicines, a repeat supply of the same medication within less than a specified interval will fall outside the PBS Safety Net

Safety Net early supply rule - List of medicines

The list of medicines comprises pharmaceutical benefits to which the Safety Net early supply rule applies if:

• supplied within 20 days of a previous supply of a prescription, usually for a month’s supply, of the same medicine or any brand of an equivalent medicine to the same person under ‘immediate supply’ provisions
• supplied within 50 days of a previous supply of a prescription with a 60-day maximum dispensed quantity (60-day prescription) of the same medicine or any brand of an equivalent medicine to the same person under ‘immediate supply’ provisions.

The legal basis for the list of medicines is the National Health (Pharmaceutical benefits – early supply) Instrument 2015 made under subsection 84AAA(2) of the National Health Act 1953.

• National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits – early supply) Instrument 2015 (PB 120 of 2015)

The purpose of the list below is to provide an easy-to-use compilation of the PBS medicines to which the Safety Net early supply rule applies, including the currently-listed brands of those medicines. This version of the list is not a legal document and, in cases of discrepancy, the National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits - early supply) Instrument will be the source document for specifying which medicines are subject to Safety Net early supply arrangements.