The federal government will soon make an oral contraceptive pill available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), saving users around $50 for each prescription re-fill.
Popular birth control choice Slinda will be subsidised by the government from May 1.
It will cost $7.70 for concession card holders or $31.60 for general patients for a four-month supply, a significant cost reduction from the previous price of $80 for a three-month prescription, saving women hundreds of dollars.
It marks the third contraceptive pill added to the PBS this year after Yasmin and Yaz were added earlier this month.
Around 80,000 Australian women are paying privately for Slinda, according to Besins Healthcare Australia.
“Access to a wide range of contraceptive options is a fundamental reproductive right,” said sexual health physician Dr Terri Foran.
“This funding move to include Slinda on the PBS will be welcomed by a large number of Australia women and their health providers.”
Slinda contains a progestogen hormone, which is often used by older women and those at risk of blood clots, migraines or who have high blood pressure.
It is the first of its kind to be added onto the PBS.
The addition of Slinda to the PBS comes as part of the Albanese government’s pledge earlier this month to spend more than half a billion dollars on women’s health programs.
