THE new 01 Jul rules have taken effect which means manufacturers of more than 2,900 brands of medicines are required to hold a minimum of four or six months' worth of stock onshore in Australia.
Govt payments to community pharmacies have increased by 7%, meaning "significant increases in payments for services like dispensing, handling, administration and infrastructure," said Federal Health Minister Mark Butler (PD Breaking News today).
The 7% indexation "boost to pharmacy payments is nearly double" the 3.6% indexation of Medicare rebates that also took effect on 01 Jul, he said.
For a standard script, such as atorvastatin, pharmacies will receive an extra $0.85, taking the fee to $12.99 per script.
An average pharmacy in the following locations will receive, as a major metropolitan area $41,229.98, a large regional centre $43,118.72, rural towns $26,857.00 to $51,746.92, a remote community $18,742.23, and a very remote community $12,448.82.
The govt said the "doubling of the total annual budget" for the Regional Pharmacy Maintenance Allowance means that a pharmacy dispensing 50,000 scripts a year in the following locations will receive, as a large rural town (eg Armidale NSW, Bribie Island Qld, and Broadwater WA), an increase of $3,000 to a total of $6,000; a medium rural town (eg Margaret River WA, Port Pirie SA, Echuca Vic), an increase of $10,360 to a total of $21,965; a small rural town (eg Lang Vic, Mount Seymour Tas, Adelong NSW), an increase of $17,720 to a total of $37,930; a remote community (eg Queenstown Tas, Katherine NT, Auburn Qld), an increase of $25,080 to a total of $53,895; a very remote community (eg Currie Tas, Thursday Island Qld, Denham WA), an increase of $32,440 to a total of $69,860.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 03 Jul 23
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