Before the PBS listing, the medication alone cost $800–$1,000 a dose — only the Department of Veteran Affairs was really funding it. Since it was put on the PBS halfway through last year, patients pay mainly for supervised nursing care: "about three to five thousand dollars out of pocket" over three to six months of treatment.
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When Good Mind started, "the only people that were really funding this was the Department of Veteran Affairs," who saw the benefit for "veterans who were coming back with sort of PTSD and depression — really difficult to treat." At $800–$1,000 a dose for the medication, it was "hugely expensive" for everyone else.
The PBS listing changed the economics: "all patients are paying for is coming into a supervised setting and having it given to you under the care of nurses to make sure that you're safe." At three to five thousand dollars for a full course, Lauren says it's "getting towards a stage where that's actually achievable" — private patients are arriving saying "that is the price that I'm willing to pay to have my life back," and insurers are "getting on board now, being like I can see the ROI on treating these patients, because we can get them back into our workforce."