PBS

For those interested in the 6th Community Pharmacy Agreement: the Government continues to work with all stakeholders in the medicines supply chain as part of its negotiations to finalise the 6CPA and Sustainability of the PBS package. Our goal is to maintain access to medicines for Australian patients in a timely manner. The PBS continues to grow. Over the next 5 years taxpayers will spend in the order of $50 billion on the PBS and the government will continue to invest in new medicines. These discussions have included Medicines Australia who are currently running a campaign against measures to make the PBS sustainable.

The Government invested an additional $1.6 billion in medicines on the PBS in the 2015 Budget and is currently considering another $2.5 billion for medicines to treat conditions such as Hepatitis C, melanoma and other cancers. This is a significant benefit to patients but also represents a major investment in the companies that sell the medicines. To ensure that we can continue to invest in these expensive new medicines, it is vital we ensure that the PBS remains sustainable. Since the 2013 election the Abbott Government has delivered on its promise to list more medicines more quickly, by listing 652 new and amended drug listings on the PBS at a value of $2.9 billion. It is disappointing that such a misleading campaign is being run while the Government is still at the table in good faith negotiations.