6CPA talks “premature”
May 21, 2013
HEALTH Minister Tanya Plibersek
says any discussions relating
to increased dispensing fees in
the next Community Pharmacy
Agreement are premature, with a
spokesperson saying yesterday’s
Medicines Australia report on the
impact of PBS reforms contains
“errors, inaccuracies and a selective
use of statistics,” says the AFR.
The Pharmacy Guild has come
under fire for responding to the
report and last week’s Budget
updates with a call for “increased
dispensing remuneration...to offset
the significant impact of price
disclosure” (PD yesterday).
It’s not just Plibersek who has
reacted to the Guild fee push,
with controversial NT Pharmacist
Rollo Manning also calling for
the Productivity Commission to
examine retail pharmacy in the
context of its status as the sole
supplier of PBS dispensing.
“This is a national health scheme
after all, and not a small business
support mechanism,” Manning
said, urging a national review to see
what the government is getting for
the $1.2 billion currently being paid
out in dispensing fees.
“Let’s not ask for more dispensing
fee until we know what is being
provided now by the 5,000
pharmacies around Australia -
many in areas less than 500m from
the next nearest pharmacy”.
He said that the current $6.52
across-the-board payment in all
locations for all dispensing tasks
should be adequate “recognising
that a few keystrokes in dispensing
repeats is over-remunerated
compared to the dispensing of
diabetic meds to a patient for the
first time.
“Let policy in this area be
determined by consumer needs
and demand, and not the emotions
of a small group of business owners
already overprotected by the
laws governing who can own a
pharmacy,” Manning said.
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