Pharmacy Daily | PBS ‘budget bright spot’

A SPECIAL edition of the “PBS Scorecard” produced by the Medicines Partnership of Australia has highlighted the stark contrast between the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and other parts of the health system, with PBS Reform significantly slowing growth in government spending on medicines. The budget forward estimates show that PBS expenditure as a percentage of GDP is expected to decline in each of the next four years, despite the country’s growing and ageing population. Spending on public hospitals is forecast to rise by 17% in real terms, while the PBS component of the budget will rise by just 5%. The PBS Scorecard also highlights the massive impact of price disclosure on the PBS, with 169 offpatent drugs subject to the regime from 01 Aug this year. “Every off-patent drug is subject to price disclosure, ensuring that taxpayers reap the benefit of the highly competitive market for these drugs,” the document says, highlighting reductions of between 10% and 90% on the wide range of molecules affected. Finally, the scorecard also collates ABS data to look at the growth in prices paid by consumers for medicines, in contrast to the growth in household incomes and overall inflation. Over the last 20 years consumer medicines prices have risen 57%, compared to overall prices in the economy which are up 70%. Median household income grew by 118% over the same period - much faster than medicine prices and in contrast to surges in other costs such as utilities and petrol. Prices paid for medical and hospital services have also risen 191% in the last 20 years, “so while certainly consumers may be feeling the pressure of higher prices for health costs, this has not been due to medicine prices,” the PBS Scorecard states. CLICK HERE to view the scorecard.

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