Community Pharmacy and the Federal Budget
May 20, 2014
Last week’s Federal Budget was a
mixed bag for community pharmacy
– relief at the absence of new savings
measures that might inflict further
harm, but disappointment that
imminent pain for pharmacies was not
recognised.
The Budget confirmed the massive
savings that the Government is
reaping from the ongoing program of
PBS reforms.
This demonstrates the massive
contribution that the medicines sector
and community pharmacies are
making to the ongoing sustainability
of the PBS.
The Pharmacy Guild is disappointed
that despite these billions in savings
the Government has not seen fit to
ameliorate any of the $149 million
impact on community pharmacy in
2014-15 of the pre-election changes to
PBS price disclosure.
These changes will strip about
$30,000 off the bottom line of the
average pharmacy in 2014-15, forcing
many to reduce services, shed staff
and or reduce opening hours.
In terms of patient care, the Guild
is also concerned about the impact
the proposed increases in PBS
co-payments will have on patients,
particularly those with chronic
conditions taking multiple medicines.
These sharp co-payment increases
from 1 January 2015 will mean that
the role of pharmacists in advising
patients about the importance of
taking their medicines as prescribed
will become even more vital, and will
need to be properly remunerated
in the next pharmacy agreement,
commencing in July 2015.
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