Tip: cost of antidepressants

[Yellow_Gumboots]

Hi friends, I've been taking 1 or 1.5 tablets a night for about 10 years and recently I'd come to realise I needed (as confirmed by my GP) to increase that to 2.

As this level now constitutes "major depression" the GP changed the costing code on the prescription and it is significantly cheaper than it was before. Same brand.

If you're like me and require a high daily dose, be sure to ask your GP about this next time - it doesn't hurt to ask! 🙂

[Neil_1]

Hi there yellow gumboots (interesting and awesome name)

Welcome to Beyond Blue and thanx so much for posting this and letting us know.

That’s very interesting indeed and as I was reading I thought you were going to say that it went the other way;  in that it was a lot more expensive.  So that really IS good to know.

Cheers

Neil

[Yellow_Gumboots]

You're most welcome, Neil! Good luck!

[Beltane]

Hiya Yellow Gumboots, thanks for sharing this information as i'm sure there are many people who are caught out by the cost of their psychiatric drugs. it definitely makes a big difference whether you get them on the PBS or not.

Basically wht would have happened with you is that initially your dose wasnt covered by the PBS (pharmaceutical benefits scheme) so you had to pay the full price. But now that you're on the higher dose, it is now covered as a treatment for depression, so is now cheaper as the cost is partially covered by the PBS.
I have this same thing with my drug. I have bipolar and anxiety, and my med is only covered on the PBS for bipolar- not for anxiety. Thats fine because i have bipolar, so either way i'm still perfectly entitled to the medication, but it just means the doctor has to make sure to fill out the script properly because otherwise it would be very expensive!

Also i'd like to add that some Private Health insurance providers allow you to claim the cost of doctor- prescribed medications under the policy. Usually it comes under an Extras policy, no the Hospital policy. I love having my Extras policy because it does allow me to claim part of the cost of doctor prescribed meds, and it also allows me to claim psychology sessions as well which is handy if/ when i run out of medicare-funded sessions.

[HA1]

Hi all - An interesting thread!

I must admit though that the cost of my prescription for ADs has not reduced despite a gradual increase in dosage. And given the higher dosage the cost has become near-on prohibitive. Might follow up on how it is cost coded - thanks for tip. 🙂

I have also heard that if you exceed a specified number of prescriptions in a twelve month period, then you fall into cost concession category and get them at a much reduced price.  Not entirely sure of the details. Another for me to follow up!

Take care

K

[Beltane]

Hey hideaway, i just posted a thread to share tips of how people found more financially affordable/ efficient ways of doing stuff.

For instance, i have Extras private health insurance. i dont have hospital cover, just extras. it only costs me $20 a week but i get psychology covered, as well as optical, dental, physio, all that etc... but i also have pharmacy covered! this is what my policy says... "Pharmacy: after deducting the PBS amount, a rebate of up to $50 per non-PBS script". So basically if a doctor gives you a medication thats not on the PBS- which yours probbaly isnt if its costing you that much- you can claim it on the extras insurance.

Also yeah worth talking to your doctor. I used to be on  a tablet that i could break in half- it was expensive but cost the same amount no matter what dosage i got. so i asked the doctor to give the the dosage twice as much as i actually needed, then just broke the tablets in half. same cost= lasted twice as long.

i recently just had that issue again the opposite way around, i was meant to be on a dosage of 100mg of my medication but the tablet only came in 50's. annoying cos i went through a script twice as much, having to take 2 tablets instead of 1. luckily we've changed the dosage again for other reasons so i havent got that issue anymore..

[brentles]

Hi Beltane, I'm replying to a comment you made 3 years ago, but hopefully you can still help. Which of the health insurers is it that costs around $20 a month and provides a rebate of up to $50 a month? I've been prescribed medication I'm only getting $21 of $62 refunded.

Thanks, brentles

[geoff]

hi Brentles, welcome to the site unfortunately by the rules we are unable to mention any names of antidepressants or the name of a Health fund, the reason is that it will be promoting the product or the Health fund. Geoff.