PBS “under control” – MA
July 27, 2011
MEDICINES Australia today cited
new data from Medicare Australia
as a demonstration that govt
expediture on the Pharmaceutical
Benefits Scheme grew by only 5%
in 2010-11 - or less than 2% in real
terms taking into account annual
inflation figures.
“It’s really time to exploed this
myth that the PBS is unsustainable,”
said MA ceo Brendan Shaw.
“For a major healthcare program
to achieve such minimal growth,
while still providing universal
access to the latest medicines to a
growing and ageing population, is
quite an extraordinary
achievement,” he said.
Shaw said the Medicare figures
back up MA’s contention that there
is no need for the govt to take a
heavy-handed approach to the PBS.
“There is simply no justification
for knee-jerk savings measures
such as the Cabinet’s deferral of
PBS medicines,” he added, urging
the government to “stop and look
at this data”.
Earlier this week Shaw testified at
the Senate enquiry into the PBS,
stressing that according to the
government’s own Intergenerational
Report, PBS growth is forecast to
remain flat at around 0.7% of GDP
until at least 2020.
He claimed that some Australians
were already feeling the pain of the
Cabinet deferrals, saying: “We run
the real risk of developing a twotier
health system, where the
wealthy can afford the most
effective and convenient treatment
options, while the rest will have to
make do with less convenient
treatments already on the PBS.”
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