Pharmacy Daily | 7CPA talks continue, but deal in sight

NEGOTIATIONS around the Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement (7CPA) are continuing with reports suggesting a deal may be close to completion ahead of the 6CPA's 30 Jun expiry date.

Details of a potential deal outlined by pharmaceutical industry publication, BioPharmaDispatch, suggest the Federal Government will not seek to implement 60-day, dispensing as part of the 7CPA.

However, it reported that the Pharmacy Guild of Australia has been unable to secure the removal of the controversial "$1 discount", which can be applied to prescriptions that fall below the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) co-payment.

A Guild spokesperson told Pharmacy Daily that negotiations between the Guild, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia and the Department of Health were ongoing, with the potential for a deal to be signed in the coming weeks.

"We are confident that an agreement will be reached before the end of the current Agreement," the spokesperson said.

Speaking at the Guild's Annual Parliamentary Dinner in Sep, Federal Health Minister, Greg Hunt, had pledged that the 7CPA would deliver certainty for community pharmacy and reduce fluctuations in payments (PD 11 Sep 2019).

"We're developing a model to set the remuneration, through negotiations and discussions, which we believe will be fair and reasonable," he said.

As part of this 'fair and reasonable" deal, Hunt said funding from the 7CPA would deliver "remuneration you can bank on".

"It's protected for us, because we know what we'll have to pay, and it's protected for you, because you'll know what you will receive,so you can see over the next five years this is the amount and this time that amount will effectively be guaranteed," he said.

This commitment appears to have been secured, with BioPharmaDispatch reporting that the 7CPA is set to include "an enhanced risk-share agreement under which community pharmacy will essentially be guaranteed a minimum spend under the 7CPA".