Does Medicare cover Viagra or generic sildenafil? Not for most Australians. Medicare helps pay for the GP visit, and it subsidises medicines through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) — but erectile dysfunction medicines are not subsidised for the general public on the PBS, so a prescription for Viagra or a generic sildenafil is paid in full. The exception is veterans with an accepted service-related disability, for whom the Repatriation schedule lists generic sildenafil and tadalafil.
What does Medicare pay for?
Doctors' visits, hospital care and PBS medicines. With a Medicare card you can get "free or lower cost" medical services by doctors and other health professionals, hospital treatment, and "prescription medicines, if they are covered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)". Doctors' fees are refunded against the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS), which pays the full schedule fee for GP services, although a doctor can charge more (healthdirect — What is Medicare?). That matters here because ED medicines need a prescription in Australia, and a doctor assesses you first (healthdirect — ED medicines). The US scheme of the same name is a different system: its drug plans exclude "Agents when used for the treatment of sexual or erectile dysfunction (ED)" (CMS, Part D manual).
Is Viagra or generic sildenafil on the PBS?
Not for the general public. A search of the PBS on 27 September 2026 found sildenafil 25 mg, 50 mg and 100 mg tablets, in packs of 4, listed only on the Repatriation schedule, for erectile dysfunction, with an authority required (PBS items 4584G, 4585H and 4586J). The brands on those listings are generics — Sildenafil APOTEX, Sildenafil Sandoz, Vedafil, NOUMED Sildenafil, Sildenafil Lupin and Vasafil — and Viagra is not among them. The only other sildenafil on the PBS is a 20 mg tablet for pulmonary arterial hypertension, for patients treated by a physician with expertise in that disease (PBS item 9547L). The same holds for tadalafil, the medicine in Cialis: its 10 mg listing is on the Repatriation schedule (PBS item 4596X).
A medicine outside the PBS is still available on prescription: "You can still get a medicine that is not on the PBS by paying the full price. Ask your pharmacist what your medicine will cost" (healthdirect — PBS).
Can veterans get sildenafil subsidised?
Some can. "RPBS stands for Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. It is a separate scheme for veterans who have a White, Gold or Orange Card from the Department of Veterans' Affairs" (healthdirect — PBS). The sildenafil and tadalafil listings for erectile dysfunction share the same conditions: the erection problem must be vasculogenic (blood-vessel), psychogenic (psychological) or neurogenic (nerve-related), and the "Patient must have a specific accepted war-caused or service-related disability". Each prescription is for 4 tablets with 5 repeats, and "Authorisation will not be given for any additional prescriptions within 6 months or for any increased quantities or repeats" (PBS item 4585H). If you hold a DVA card, your GP can tell you whether the listing applies to you. The US version of the question has its own page: what is the VA disability rating for erectile dysfunction?
Is generic sildenafil cheaper than Viagra?
Often, and it is the same medicine. Generic medicines "may cost less than brand-name medicines" because their makers have not paid for the medicine's discovery, development and marketing (healthdirect — generic medicines), and a generic is only allowed to be supplied in Australia if the TGA considers it bioequivalent to the original (TGA). This page states no prices. The comparison is set out in what is the difference between generic sildenafil and Viagra?, and the cost question in why is Viagra so expensive?
Does health insurance cover Viagra?
We could not find an authoritative source on what private health funds pay towards ED medicines, so this page does not answer for them; the government's subsidy, the PBS, is covered above. Two related questions have their own pages: does insurance cover Viagra or sildenafil? and does insurance cover Cialis or tadalafil?
The short answer
In Australia, Medicare can cover the doctor's visit, but neither Viagra nor generic sildenafil is subsidised on the PBS for the general public, so the prescription is paid in full. Veterans with an accepted service-related disability may get generic sildenafil or tadalafil through the Repatriation scheme, with an authority. The subsidy rules for every ED medicine are gathered in our guide to the PBS, cost and insurance for ED.
