Issue and claim for PBS Safety Net cards

You can claim a payment for issuing Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Safety Net cards to your patients.

To claim a payment for issuing PBS Safety Net cards, complete and submit the PBS Safety Net claim for payment form (PB241) and send it to us within one month. You can use a PBS Safety Net reply paid envelope.

Read more about PBS Safety Net stationery to order envelopes.

When issuing a PBS Safety Net card, check all family details with your patient. This includes:

  • adding eligible family members who aren’t listed on the Prescription Record Form (PRF)
  • removing any family members who are no longer eligible or who were deceased before the start of the year
  • checking all relationship codes have been included and are correct
  • checking dependents aged 16-24, as at 1 January, are full time dependent students only.

For a family to be eligible for the PBS Safety Net Entitlement card, one or both parents must have a concession at some time during the calendar year.

PBS patient refunds shouldn’t be submitted as part of a PBS Safety Net claim. It may delay the processing of the refund.

When you submit your claim, you need to do all of the following:

  • record the correct values and calculate the total
  • sign your pharmacy’s Prescription Record Form (PRF) pharmacist declaration, as this is a legal requirement
  • check that the PRF has been signed by your patient or their agent
  • confirm the agent is anyone authorised by your patient to make the declaration on their behalf, noting it can’t be the issuing pharmacist or an employee of the issuing pharmacy
  • note there are no signature exemptions in place
  • check that each supply of medicine recorded has been signed by the supplying pharmacist
  • check the pages in each patient’s PRF are in sequential order
  • attach all PRFs in the order they appear on the claim form.

We’ll reject any incomplete PBS Safety Net claim forms and you’ll need to re-submit them.

The PBS Safety Net reply paid envelopes are for PBS Safety Net claims only. You can only submit one claim with up to 12 applications in each envelope.

Page last updated: 15 June 2024.
QC 74065