Australians will have cheaper access to treatments for high cholesterol, heart failure and high blood pressure from today, ensuring they can continue to access the medicines they need, when they them.

As part of the Morrison Government’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Price Disclosure Policy, hundreds of thousands of Australians will now pay less for 21 medicines sold under more than 130 different brand names.

From 1 April, medicines treating common conditions that will be cheaper for general (non-concessional) patients include:

• nebivolol – for the treatment of moderate to severe heart failure, will be up to $5.14 cheaper per prescription (a saving of up to 12.09%) for about 12,000 patients who are dispensed around 77,000 prescriptions per year
• ezetimibe – for the treatment of high cholesterol, will be up to $1.39 cheaper per prescription (a saving of up to 6.21%) for about 60,000 patients who are dispensed around 420,000 prescriptions per year, and
• moxonidine – for the treatment of high blood pressure, will be up to $1.27 cheaper per prescription (a saving of up to 5.35%) for about 35,000 patients who are dispensed around 302,000 prescriptions per year.

As a result of the Price Disclosure Policy, every six months prices for a range of PBS medicines are reduced, meaning cheaper prices for patients.

The Morrison Government is also listing additional important and lifesaving drugs on the PBS including for Australians with asthma, prostate cancer, Castleman disease, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Crohn’s disease.