How much would medication be in Oz?

WeirdoFreak

Pretty sure I'm going to be moving over to Oz for a year or so, I've been on medication long term anxiety/depression.

Does anybody know how much it would cost over there? Like I think I'm aloud to bring over 3 months supply with me to start off with.

Also, is it possible to have it posted over. I heard that somewhere but can't see it being true.

manlad

WeirdoFreak wrote: »

Pretty sure I'm going to be moving over to Oz for a year or so, I've been on medication long term anxiety/depression.

Does anybody know how much it would cost over there? Like I think I'm aloud to bring over 3 months supply with me to start off with.

Also, is it possible to have it posted over. I heard that somewhere but can't see it being true.

Extremely expensive I'm afraid. My sister suffers from epilepsy and we send her medication over every 3 months due to the costs of buying it in oz. We've never had any problems sending it by normal post. Though your medication may be different. best think you could do is try and contact a pharmacy in the location your going to and ask about the costs.

Jumpy

Is it specialised rare medication? Or something common like Prozac or Effexor?

If its the latter then its cheaper than Ireland. If its specialised stuff then sorry I couldnt help.

Cooperspale

If you are coming on a WHV, providing your medicine is available here, you should be entitled to get it on PBS with the reciprocal agreement. You present your passport when at the pharmacy.
The only other variables would be if it was a higher dose of med as almost everything here is dispensed in original pack size. Then you need to obtain an authority prescription from Dr for a higher quantity of medicine to see through a month.
Depending on item, the maximum usually to pay for a PBS item is $35.40. Anti anxiety will usually be less expensive than this though there is the odd exception.
If you are going to get medicine and see a Dr here, please bring all relevant copies of your history and or a letter from your Dr back home.
Seeing a doc here will set you back anything from 55-85$. I am assuming that you see a GP back home, however if you are seeing a specialist, you first have to attend a GP here to obtain a referral for the specialist and they can cost from about 150$ upwards.
To check pricing of items here you can check on the chemist warehouse site.
For instance I have priced a 4 mth authority supply of aropax
http://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/product.asp?id=47405&Aropax%2020mg%20Tablet%20120%20(4%20x%2030)%20(Authority%20Script)
It is a branded item and carries a surcharge that brings it up to the 40 odd dollars. Some brands carry bigger surcharges than others.
They are a discount pharmacy but only really worth going to for private items to be honest.
There is also a huge market here for generic medicines and they will usually work out a couple of bucks cheaper than a branded item.
I would compare the pricing between Ireland and Oz, but you would probably work out cheaper at this side. Plus you don't have that extra worry about shipping.

WeirdoFreak

Well I'm on 20mg Lexapro and 3mg of valium a day and a light sleeping tablet at night, stillnocht. So I wouldn't call them specialised medicine. I basically get my medication for free here in Ireland on my medical card. I've to see my GP next week, I'll ask her more about it. Is it legal to get medication sent over?

Cooperspale: Could you explain more in detail about the PBS thing?

Thanks a lot.

I'll be on a working holiday visa by the way.

TouchingVirus

The PBS is the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. While only available to residents of Australia, vistors from other countries (including Ireland) can also avail of the PBS since they have an agreement with Australia to let Australian citizens avail of our schemes here

WeirdoFreak

TouchingVirus wrote: »

The PBS is the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. While only available to residents of Australia, vistors from other countries (including Ireland) can also avail of the PBS since they have an agreement with Australia to let Australian citizens avail of our schemes here

Do I need to fill in any forms or is my passport and working visa good enough for that.

Jumpy

Erm they were talking about banning stilnocht over here. Not sure if they have yet.

Cooperspale

The official line about bringing medicine in is
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/general-guidance-for-travellers-bringing-medicines-to-and-from-australia
Which would indicate 3 months max.

Being on medical card saves an awful lot of money on medication; you will not have that option here. The equivalent here is concession or pension card and will not be available to you on a WHV. There is no free or minimal 50c fee here. The concession fee is $5.80 per item. You will also have to pay for each Dr visit. Lexapro is brand and carries a hefty surcharge: about 9$ over the the 35.40 for the box of 28. You can get a repeat script for 6 months.
Valium is brand and should cost about $16 for 50. Repeats are not allowed on PBS but it may be possible to get a once repeat on a private script.
These items are covered on the PBS and generics are available cheaper.
The PBS is the pharmaceutical benefits scheme and is a program of the Australian government that provides subsidised prescription drugs to residents of Australia. It's like the GMS,DPS and LTI schemes in Ireland. A lot of medicines are on the list but there are exceptions. You do not fill out any forms, you present your passport when handing over scripts, when they are processing paperwork on computer, they will choose reciprocal agreement option instead of a personal Medicare number and may need to key your passport number in somewhere along the line in case there's a query in the claim at month end.
The list in Australia is smaller so certain items that are covered in Ireland are not covered here. In your case that would be for stilnox; it's a private item here and comes in a 14 or 28 pack and to be honest will be difficult to get repeats for. Think its about 28$ for 14 and 53$ for 28, depends on where you go, generic is much cheaper. It's becoming less popular here because of certain documented side effects usually associated with drinking while on it.

Jumpy

PS - Im not one to preach. But this is why they want it banned.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/02/18/1203190740530.html?page=fullpage