PBS eligibility criteria no longer include a positive PCR test.
The PBAC has brought an early Christmas present for anyone unlucky enough to catch covid, relaxing eligibility requirements for subsidised covid treatments Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir) and Lagevrio (molnupiravir).
As of this month, patients will no longer require a positive PCR test to have these treatments subsidised by the PBS. All other eligibility criteria remain unchanged.
The move comes on the back of a recommendation made by the PBAC in its meeting in May, where it was noted that the newly created MBS items for respiratory pathogen nucleic acid testing were “method agnostic” – i.e., they did not specifically require a positive PCR test.
“The PBAC considered that it was appropriate to align the respiratory pathogen testing requirements for Lagevrio and Paxlovid on the PBS with the MBS item requirements,” the document states.
“No other PBS-listed items would be affected by the new MBS items for nucleic acid testing for respiratory pathogens.”
The relaxed criteria may prove beneficial for Victoria, which is experiencing a holiday covid wave. The state saw a doubling of new covid cases in November, with 6965 compared to the 3319 recorded in October.
Victoria’s chief health officer Dr Clare Looker told the ABC there was no suggestion that the health system was under any strain, but recommended people to be cautious about the potential spread of infection heading into the festive season.
“People may be out and about more, they may be mixing in slightly different groups, or perhaps with extended family, and so there is that opportunity for infection to spread a bit more easily at other times of year,” she said.
The updated factsheets for nirmatrelvir and ritonavir and molnupiravir, which include the full list of eligibility criteria for subsidised treatment, can be downloaded for free from the PBS website.
