Govt deferrals backdown
September 30, 2011
HEALTH minister Nicola Roxon
today announced that a range of
medicines recommended for PBS
listing last November will finally be
subsidised from 01 Dec this year.
It’s part of a new agreement with
Medicines Australia (MA), the
Consumers Health Forum (CHF) and
the Generic Medicines Industry
Association (GMiA) which will see
the govt consult on “ways to
manage deferrals into the future”.
The govt has committed to not
defer any drugs that cost under $10
million a year for the coming 12
months “while it works with all
parties to achieve longer-term PBS
sustainability”.
Price increases recommended by
the Pharmaceutical Benefits Pricing
Authority in December will also be
implemented under the deal.
However Pradaxa (dabigatran) for
stroke patients will not be
subsidised at this stage, with Roxon
instead commissioning former
PBAC chairman Lloyd Sansom to
“inform the Government on
options for improving the health
outcomes of patients treated with
anticoagulation therapies”.
Medicines Australia welcomed
the agreement, but said there was
still an issue with the deferral of
new medicines that had been
recommended by the PBAC - a
position also backed by the GMiA
which said “it is poor public policy
to indefinitely defer PBS listing of
medicines that have been found to
be highly cost-effective.”
GMiA said the agreement had
also seen the parties commit to
enter discussions with the
government concerning savings.
And the deal saw the industry
agree to legislative changes “to
complete price disclosure reforms,
which will help to end anomalies in
the current pricing system”.
These include capturing medicines
that do not have a unique price for
a brand i.e. non-proportional
pricing for different pack sizes.
Meetings with MA, GMiA and the
CHF will occur throughout Nov and
Dec, with a paper to be provided to
the government by 12 Dec 2011.
A longer term consultation
process will also look at savings and
other measures which could be
pursued when the current
Memorandum of Understanding
expires in 2014.
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