Closing the Gap (CTG), previously only available to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians living with, or at risk of, chronic disease, is now available to all Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians, regardless of where they live or their chronic disease status. Additionally, more health care providers can now register patients for the CTG Program.
A significant number of eligible Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander patients have not been correctly registered for the Closing the Gap Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme co-payment program. As of 1 February 2022, these patients will not have the applicable co-payment reduction applied when their prescriptions are being dispensed.
To ensure eligible patients are formally registered for the Program and continue to receive their PBS medicines at the reduced PBS co-payment, health care providers need to review the registration status for any Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander patients. A patient’s registration status can be checked using the Health Professional Online Services (HPOS).
If the patient is not formally registered with Services Australia, HPOS will indicate that the person is ‘inactive’. In this case, you will need to contact that patient to arrange to have them assessed by either a PBS prescriber or an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner.
Information on registering patients for the program can be found Information on the Department of Health’s website.
