Women to save thousands of dollars a year as new fertility and endometriosis drugs listed on PBS

The Guardian

16-03-2025

New medications related to contraception, endometriosis and IVF will be subsidised on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) from 1 May, with some women expected to save thousands of dollars each year.
The announcement from the federal government on Sunday was welcomed by health campaigners, who said women's health issues have been sidelined for far too long.
'These listings covering IVF, endometriosis and contraception will improve the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of Australian women,' said the health minister, Mark Butler.
Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email
Butler said the announcement was not about winning female votes at the upcoming election, but was about strengthening Medicare, lowering the cost of medicine and listening to women.
'Women were telling us for years that they're just not being listened to, particularly for things that pretty much every woman goes through, having to deal with reproductive health choices, contraception, perimenopause, menopause,' he told Channel Seven on Sunday morning. 'There had been nothing new to support them for decades.'
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, told Channel Nine that the Coalition would 'back this move as part of a $580m package for women's health we've already announced'.
The deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, also said she was 'pleased' to see the announcements.
Among the drugs that will now be listed via the PBS – meaning they will now be subsidised by the government, dramatically lowering their cost to users – is drospirenone, a progesterone-only contraceptive pill sold under the brand name Slinda.
It is the first new contraceptive pill to be listed on the PBS in 30 years, and the government estimates more than 100,000 Australian women would benefit from this subsidy, saving more than $250 a year for treatment.
'I could not be happier,' said Dr Nisha Khot, vice-president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
'Three decades of pharmaceutical innovation means that the newer pills that are available are so much better than the pills that used to be on PBS.'
Khot said the new progesterone-only contraceptive was particularly helpful for the many women who cannot take oestrogen-based contraception, which can include women who are overweight, older, or who have other health conditions.
A new endometriosis treatment – relugolix with estradiol and with norethisterone (sold as Ryeqo) – will also be available on the PBS from 1 May.
Ryeqo assists patients who have experienced moderate to severe pain and cannot get adequate relief from other hormonal treatments and painkillers.
Sign up to Breaking News Australia
Get the most important news as it breaks
after newsletter promotion
The government estimated that about 8,500 Australian women were expected to benefit from this listing each year, who would otherwise pay more than $2,700 for a year of treatment without the subsidy.
This is the second new endometriosis treatment that has been added to the PBS by the Albanese government in the last six months. Before that no new endometriosis treatment had been made available through the PBS in three decades. An estimated one in seven Australian women suffer from endometriosis.
Sylvia Freedman, from not-for-profit health promotion charity EndoActive, commended the government for its commitment to women's health, but also encouraged it to commit more funding for endometriosis treatment, research and education.
'All women – whether they have endometriosis or no – face an inherent financial disadvantage compared to our male counterparts simply because having a period is expensive. Period products, medications, and pain relief aren't luxury items; they're essential. Any measure that helps lower these costs for women across Australia is a step in the right direction.'
The government also announced that women undergoing in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) will have earlier access to a combination therapy known as Pergoveris (follitropin alfa with lutropin alfa) through the PBS. This was previously only funded in later IVF cycles.
The treatment will be available from 1 April for women with specific low levels of reproductive hormones.
Double the maximum number of Pergoveris pens (four instead of two) per script will now be listed. The government said that more than 6,000 women access Pergoveris on the PBS each year, many of whom require four pens to complete a cycle.
Khot said that while Sunday's announcements were welcome, the government should go further and review all rebates under the PBS and Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS) 'with a gendered lens'.
'It is time to review all of the MBS item numbers, PBS listings, rebates, from a gendered lens and correct the gender inequity that has existed for far too long.'