Guild co-pay clarity sought
August 21, 2014
THE Pharmacy Guild of Australia
has been grilled regarding its
view on the proposed increased
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
co-payment.
Speaking at the public hearing
for the Community Affairs
Legislation Committee inquiry into
the National Health Amendment
(Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2014,
Senator for Victoria Richard di
Natale said he could not discern
from the Guild’s submission what
its view was regarding the copayment
and addressed Guild
executive director David Quilty
three times regarding whether or
not the Guild opposed it.
Quilty said “to be very clear” that
the organisation’s position was that
it was a matter for government in
terms of increasing the co-payment
and the safety net, but that it did
have concerns about the impact
it might have on the ground in
community pharmacies.
Quilty said the Guild believed the
impact of the proposal would need
to be factored into the negotiations
for the next Community Pharmacy
Agreement.
Di Natale asked whether
there was an appetite for better
utilisation of pharmacists, as
opposed to “going down the easy
path of hiking up the co-payment”,
to which Pharmaceutical Society
of Australia ceo Dr Lance Emerson
said there was international
evidence of the gains to be made
from evidence based pharmacist
services, such as pharmacists in GP
surgeries (PD 23 Jul).
Pharmacists were not funded
to work as part of a GP team
but $13m was allocated for
chiropractors in the MBS, he said.
“To be frank, there is limited
scientific evidence for that, yet we
have very strong scientific evidence
supporting the role of pharmacists
and working with the GPs.”
Australia needed to look to
evidence based pharmacist
interventions, such as home
medicines reviews, to improve
patient health and reduce health
costs, Emerson said.
MEANWHILE Senator for
Queensland Jan McLucas said the
level of “disquiet and concern”
regarding out of pocket costs,
whether about the proposed GP copayment
or the PBS increased copayment,
had been “extraordinary”.
McLucas said the people who
had mostly contacted her office
following the budget about the
out of pocket costs had been
pensioners.
The Committee is due to report
on 26 Aug.
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