THE Australian pharmacy sector has generally welcomed last night's Federal Budget, with a range of measures set to support the industry including an extension of the Administration, Handling and Infrastructure (AHI) fee.
$215 million has been provided over three years from 2020-21 to provide additional remuneration to community pharmacies through increased AHI payments on all PBS scripts, which has been partly funded by reallocating money from Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement professional programs.
The Budget also provided $15 million over three years for additional Community Service Obligation payments to pharmacy wholesalers, as well as $15 million in 2018-19 to promote quality use of medicines by patients through medication management programs in community pharmacy.
Pricing arrangements for high cost medicines will also be aligned between community pharmacy and hospital, while $7.2 million has been provided for a "take home naloxone" program to help reduce deaths caused by opioids.
Pharmacy Guild of Australia National President, George Tambassis, also noted previous announcements about shortening the PBS payment cycles for pharmacies to help cashflow.
Measures to assist small businesses included increasing the instant asset write-off threshold to $30,000 as well as expanding its accessibility to businesses turning over up to $50 million.
The Budget also included $331 million for new and amended PBS listings, as part of $40 billion in the forward estimates for "life-saving and life-changing medicines".
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia National President, Chris Freeman, welcomed the Budget but said more was needed for pharmacy.
"Leading into the next Community Pharmacy Agreement, we would expect at least the same level of investment in community pharmacy and pharmacists to improve accessibility of care and health outcomes," he said.
"In a budget that has now returned to surplus...we need to have investment in pharmacy and pharmacists across sectors to improve the health of Australians".
The Australian Self-Medication Industry called for more to be done on health literacy and increasing access to medicines, while Medicines Australia CEO, Elizabeth de Somer, welcomed the Government's "commitment to an uncapped PBS" through listing all positive PBAC recommendations.
She said the fact that no new saving measures were imposed in the Budget was a reminder of the value of MA's Strategic Agreement with the Government.
Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia CEO, Kristin Michaels, welcomed the budget's focus on "embedded pharmacy positions in aged care, investment in equal access to new medicines and improvements to hospital infrastructure".
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