These listings include a guide to the allowable indications. The Commonwealth Government provides funding for certain specialised medications under the Highly Specialised Drugs Program. Highly Specialised Drugs are medicines for the treatment of chronic conditions which, because of their clinical use or other special features, are restricted to supply through public and private hospitals having access to appropriate specialist facilities. Medical practitioners not affiliated with these specialist hospital units cannot prescribe these drugs as pharmaceutical benefit items. To provide maintenance therapy, a general practitioner or non-specialist hospital doctor may only prescribe Highly Specialised Drugs under the guidance of the treating specialist.
Benefits are available for the listed clinical indications only.
There is no facility for individual patient approval for indications outside those listed. A patient will be required to pay a contribution for each supply of a highly specialised drug at a similar rate to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Commonwealth subsidy is not available for hospital inpatients. Reciprocal Health Care Agreement - Where a patient is entitled to be treated as an eligible person as a visitor from a country with which Australia has entered into a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement, the supply will be limited to the original prescription only. Repeat prescriptions for these patients are not permitted.