Pharmacy Daily | Co-pay cut to reduce hospitalisations

CUTTING the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) general co-payment from $42.50 to $30 from 01 Jan 2023, included in last night's Federal Budget, will help to reduce the number of hospital presentations, the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) believes.

Welcoming the long-heralded cut to the co-payment, SHPA CEO, Kristin Michaels, said the cost of medicines has been a barrier to accessing key life-saving treatments that would keep Australians out of hospital.

"Hospital pharmacists are at the receiving end of the 250,000 medication-related hospital admissions each year, and as we heard from an ex-hospital pharmacist, Assistant Minister [for Regional and Rural Health], Emma McBride, earlier this month, the cost of medicines is a risk variable we can and must manage," Michaels said.

"At a time when our hospitals are struggling with capacity, measures that keep Australians healthy in the community and out of hospitals are particularly valuable."

Pharmacy Guild of Australia National President, Trent Twomey, said the inclusion of the measure, which has already been backed by the House of Representatives (PD 29 Sep), in the Budget was a great step forward for patients.

"The allocation of $787 million in the Budget to deliver the first cut in the history of the PBS fulfils an election commitment by the Government," he said.

"This decision to reduce the co-payment is a result of strong advocacy by the pharmacy profession on behalf of patients across the country.

"As primary healthcare workers, community pharmacists have for some time been hearing patients say they simply cannot afford their medicines.

"This is a good first step in increasing the universality of the access to medicines for all Australians, while also helping to address cost-of-living pressures."

Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association (GBMA) Independent Chair, Professor Jane Halton, also welcomed the PBS co-payment cut.

"Making medicines cheaper for non-concessional patients and subsidising more expensive treatments, is a difficult but important balance that the Government has achieved," she said.