PHARMACIES should be given the freedom to lower the prices they charge for Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) listed medicines beyond the dollar discount, Chemist Warehouse (CWH) Chief Operating Officer, Mario Tascone, believes.
With the reduction in the PBS general co-payment set to come into effect from 01 Jan 2023, a number of medications with a list price of less than $42.50 and subject to competition will have a price above the $30 co-payment, making them theoretically ineligible for discounting.
However, Pharmacy Daily understands that existing discounts will be grandfathered, allowing pharmacies to maintain discounts that exceed the controversial $1 discount.
Under the proposed model discounted medicines will contribute to a patient's safety net, but the pharmacy will not receive a subsidy.
Speaking with News Corp, Tascone called on the Federal Government to amend legislation to allow pharmacies to offer greater discounts to patients.
"We offer free prescriptions in New Zealand because we are allowed to discount the co-payment off," he said.
"We would like to choose what we can discount the co-payment to here, and if the rules changed for certain drugs we would forfeit the co-payment.
"We might be able to do some things for free.
"We might be able to do some things for $5 - we want that flexibility."
Consumer Health Forum CEO, Elizabeth Deveny, said discounting would only benefit patients who can access discount pharmacies.
"It would be unfair if all Australians, especially those living in rural and remote areas, could not access such discounted medicines via their local pharmacy," she said.
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