Pharmacy Daily | 7CPA budgets $268m program spend

SPENDING on Community Pharmacy Programs under the Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement (7CPA) is set to hit $268.1 million in the first year of the deal.

Under the new agreement the Federal Government and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia have allocated $1.2 billion for professional programs over the next five years, with allocations for the first year set out in the 7CPA.

The indicative allocations for the 2020/21 year include:

$105.5 million for Medication Adherence Programs, including Dose Administration Aids and Staged Supply.

$96.4 million for Medication Management Programs, such as Home Medicines Reviews, Residential Medication Management Reviews, Quality Use of Medicines in Residential Aged Care Facilities, MedsCheck and Diabetes MedsCheck.

$12.6 million has been allocated for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Specific Programs, including QUMAX/S100 Support, the Closing The Gap Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Co-payment Measure, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Workforce Programs.

$24.6 million for Rural Support Programs, including a 10% increase to the Rural Pharmacy Maintenance Allowance, which will increase in subsequent years, and Rural Workforce Programs.

$18 million for the Electronic Prescription Fee.

$11 million has been budgeted for Other activity, such as program administration, oversight and assessment.

As part of the agreement the Government has "committed to provide ongoing funding for Community Pharmacy Programs as part of its commitment to advancement of the 10 Year Primary Health Care Plan.

The Guild and Government have also agreed to change programs to support, "enhanced medication management for older Australians wherever they live", Closing the Gap initiatives to expand culturally responsive pharmacy services and ensure affordable access to PBS medicines for Indigenous Australians, and deliver greater access to PBS medicines and advice about medicines use for Australians in regional, rural and remote areas.