PBS spending 10 year low
February 4, 2016
Recently released data from
the Productivity Commission has
confirmed that the per capita cost
of the Pharmaceutical Benefits
Scheme has dropped to its lowest
level in a decade.
The figures were highlighted
by the Medicines Partnership
of Australia - a coalition of the
Pharmacy Guild, Pharmaceutical
Society, Medicines Australia, the
Generic and Biosimilar Medicines
Association, the Australian Self-
Medication Industry and the
National Pharmaceutical Services
Association.
The Partnership says the
government should now
acknowledge that further cuts to
the PBS are unnecessary.
“In accordance with the National
Medicines Policy it is important
now to provide stability to ensure
Australia’s world-class subsidised
medicine system is maintained,”
the group said in a statement.
The Productivity Commission
Report on Government Services
stated that real expenditure on the
PBS, which rose steadily from $6.9
billion ($337 per person) in 2005-06
to a high of $7.9 billion ($350 per
person) in 2011-12, decreased to
$7.1 billion ($299 per person) in
2014-15.
The report showed PBS spending
per person declined almost 6%
in 2014-15 alone - in contrast to
growth in virtually all other areas of
health spending.
The Productivity Commission data
confirms other figures such as an
analysis of last month’s Mid Year
Economic and Fiscal Outlook which
showed a a $3.6 billion drop in
forecast spending on the PBS over
the next four years.
That includes $2 billion in savings
from the Pharmacy Agreement
as well as $1.6 billion more from
larger than expected savings from
pharmaceutical pricing policies.
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