When is an individual or family eligible for PBS Safety Net?

• A. When income exceeds threshold
• B. When an individual or family pay a large amount of co-payments per calendar year on PBS-listed medicines, they are eligible for further subsidy.
• C. After turning 65
• D. After buying private health insurance

Answer: (B)

PBS Safety Net is about protecting you from very high medicine costs over a year. The key idea is cumulative out-of-pocket spend on PBS-listed medicines. When you or your family reach the annual threshold of co-payments for PBS medicines in a calendar year, you become eligible for extra subsidy for the rest of that year, making subsequent PBS medicines cheaper. This eligibility isn’t based on income, age, or private health insurance—those factors don’t determine safety net eligibility. The exact thresholds vary for concession cardholders and general patients and depend on family/group size, and they are updated each year.