Gilmore MP Fiona Phillips is confident that cheaper medicine under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme will deliver cost of living relief with a script to cost no more than $25.

Ms Phillips and Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler dropped by the Beachside Pharmacy in Ulladulla this week to announce that four out of five PBS medicines will become cheaper because of this $689 million investment in the upcoming Budget.

There will be a more than 20 per cent cut in the maximum cost of PBS medicines, which will save Australians over $200 million each year, according to Ms Phillips.

She said the last time that PBS medicines cost $25 or less was 21 years ago.

“Residents in Gilmore have told me Labor’s cheaper medicines are giving them real cost of living relief – these changes will deliver even more savings,” she said.

“Our community has already saved almost $10 million, and under a re-elected Labor Government they will save even more.

“Our plan is clear – more bulk billing, more doctors, even cheaper medicines, a federally funded Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in Nowra and extended hours, from 6am until midnight, at the Batemans Bay Medicare Urgent Care Clinic.

“Only Labor will deliver a stronger Medicare for Australia and Gilmore.”

Mr Butler said Opposition Leader Peter Dutton had voted to block cheaper medicines six times when he was a member of prior Coalition governments.

“When Peter Dutton was Health Minister, he tried to make medicines cost more, not less,” he said.

“Peter Dutton tried to jack up the cost of medicines by up to $5 a script and put free medicines for sick pensioners even further out of reach.”

“The contrast, this election, is clear: cheaper medicines with a re-elected Albanese Government, or the frankly terrifying legacy of Peter Dutton, who wants medicines to cost more, not less.”

If re-elected the Albanese Government will pass legislation and $25 maximum PBS scripts will start from January 1 2026.