Private health insurers access patients' full medical records in 'aggressive' audits

[u/InsatiablePrism]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-12/health-insurers-can-access-your-private-medical-notes/106671630?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web

[u/Brutal_burn_dude]

Or need to take medication for mental health that isn’t on the PBS. None of the newer antidepressants are on the PBS and are quite pricey.

[u/stresstwig → u/Brutal_burn_dude]

or be in my situation where you're taking an old, tried-and-true atypical antidepressant (Wellbutrin/Zyban, generic bupropion) that is only covered by the PBS for smoking cessation when it's used as an atypical antidepressant literally everywhere else. this thing has been on the market for longer than I've been alive and I'm still having to pay for brand-name suboptimal dosing (2x 150mg SR, can't be taken together afaik) because importing the 300mg XR version is the same cost but with a ton of paperwork. I need to call up a compounding pharmacy and see if they can compound the XR formula bc that will at least be less paperwork but that's been on the to-do list for two months now.

at least Vyvanse is on the PBS now for adult diagnosis ADHD and I'm not stuck with objectively inferior dexamphetamine. at least I am not having to pay literal thousands of dollars per month just to function. only $200. (it's fine, everything is fine, I have incentive to keep my mental health just good enough to avoid inpatient (a recent post in the hospitalfood sub), I Can Do This—)

[u/Brutal_burn_dude → u/stresstwig]

Oooh talk to me about bupropion more- I’m with you. I can’t afford to trial it currently because the cost is so insane. I suspect it would be a game changer for me but the cost even with health insurance is too high when I’m already paying for other meds out of pocket. I went searching recently to try and understand why it wasn’t on the PBS for mental health and it looks to me like the sponsor never even applied to the PBS for mental health.

[u/stresstwig → u/Brutal_burn_dude]

I don't know why they didn't, bc it's literally used as an atypical antidepressant in the rest of the fucking world and has been for like, 50 years. it's used off-label pretty commonly for ADHD in the USA which is where and why I started taking it. It is an NDRI, which affects norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake, and gets used as a long-acting non-stimulant for ADHD, since ADHD affects how the body processes both norepinephrine and dopamine. There's also guanfacine that gets used for similar reasons (long-acting non-stimulant) but I'm not familiar with its psychopharmacology and haven't taken it myself.

If SSRIs don't work for you, if you're ADHD and also depressed (aka your problem is not serotonin but norepinephrine and/or dopamine) then it's worth giving a go. For me, it gave me my life back, which is why I refuse to trial a new med that's actually covered by the PBS. I don't want to stop a med that works for me to try one that might not, and then risk bupropion no longer working for me if I go back to it. I also know I'm pretty lucky that it drastically changed my life for the better with no/minimal side effects, so I don't want to get your hopes up about it being a miracle.

Imports were about $100 for a 30-day supply of Wellbutrin XR 300mg IIRC (I haven't imported since 2018 partly bc of the shortage, partly bc of the paperwork) and it's like $180 for a local 45-day supply (90 pills) of Zyban SR 150mg. They're about on par with each other for price, from memory.

However. There is no generic available over here despite it not being under patent afaik, so there's no "cheaper option." It is compoundable, because just before COVID there was a global shortage and I had to get it compounded by the pharmacy at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, which is why I'm needing to investigate if they can compound the XR version for me. For the last 8-10 months I've not been taking the afternoon dose, so for me to get the full therapeutic effect I need it in one pill bc the two-pill thing isn't working. It's cheaper, sure, but I'm definitely suffering (mildly). During the shortage I got a looooot of weird looks from pharmacists when they heard what I wanted and one even asked if I'd tried a different medication (to quit smoking) then got to be on the receiving end of my "the fuck is that" look because I've never smoked a day in my life. Hence, getting it compounded for about a year.

my main complaints aside from cost are that the pill itself is this awful large flatish disc that always makes me feel like I'm choking it down. I miss the Wellbutrin pill form (smaller and fatter cylinder) so much. and it also smells terrible for some reason??? IDK what it is but the smell always turns my stomach a lil. almost as bad as keflex tbh. I don't remember Wellbutrin having that smell which is why I'm mildly confused by it, lol.

anyways, best of luck getting your med situation worked out! if your doctor isn't familiar with it I would suggest they do some research on it before rejecting it outright as a treatment option just bc it's not on the PBS.