Energy price relief plan
From July 2023
The government has announced it will provide funding, and partner with state and territory governments, to reduce the impact of rising energy prices on Australian households and small businesses by providing targeted energy bill relief.
The government says this will deliver up to $500 in electricity bill relief for eligible households and up to $650 for eligible small businesses. These include:
• Pensioners
• Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders
• Family Tax Benefit A and B recipients
• Small business customers of electricity retailers.
Also announced in the Budget, a range of other measures the government says are designed to ease the cost of living pressure on Australians. These include increasing the rate of working age payments and expanding access to Parenting Payment Single – see social security section for more information.
Cheaper medicines to ease cost of living pressures
From 1 September 2023
The government has proposed reducing the cost of selected pharmaceuticals by implementing a ‘60 day’ prescribing policy which allows two months’ worth of medicine to be obtained for the cost of a single script.
Doctors will have the option of prescribing a two-month supply of more than 320 medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to Australians with stable, ongoing conditions. The current dispensing limit is for a one-month supply only.
From 1 September 2023, general patients will be able save up to $180 a year if their medicine is able to be prescribed for 60 days and concession card holders will save up to $43.80 a year per medicine.
Reducing out-of-pocket health costs (tripling bulk billing incentives)
From 2022-23
The government is investing $3.5 billion over 5 years to make it easier and cheaper to see a doctor.
The funding will triple the bulk billing incentive for the most common consultations for pensioners and other Commonwealth concession card holders and patients aged under 16 years of age.
The higher bulk billing incentive will support GPs to bulk bill around 11.6 million eligible Australians. This will support eligible patients to receive the care they need, without any out-of-pocket costs.
The bulk billing incentive will continue to be higher for patients in regional and rural areas to support the ongoing viability of general practices in these communities.
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Disclaimer and Warning
The information above is of a general nature only. It should not be used as a source to make financial decisions. It’s also important to note that the legislation and figures related to this topic tend to change regularly and therefore the information above may not reflect the current status. We recommend that if you are looking for advice on this matter, you should contact us.
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