PBS is the government's pharmaceutical benefits scheme which makes some types of prescription medicines available at government-subsidised price for anyone who has a medicare card. they are normally drugs which the government considers as essential or at least require regular use (e.g. asthma and cancer treatments, cholesterol tablets etc). there is more information about it here
pbs.gov.au - Consumer - About the PBS plus you can get access to a list of all the medications which are eligible for the concession.
As far as I know, the pill is not actually part of the PBS and the people who refer to discounts are actually getting the generic versions. for example, im on yasmin and i pay $55.95 for 3 months but i never ask for the generic brand. friends of mine are on the generic brand of (i think) juliet and they only pay $23.80 for 3 months.
As for your question in the other thread, i went on Yasmin for my skin and I have never had any spotting, nor have I noticed any hugely detrimental side effects. I have put on minimal and manageable weight, and I get headaches when I take the sugar pills, that's about it.
