Pharmacy Daily | 8CPA surety sought before 04 Sep

THE 60DD dispensing policy should go ahead on 01 Sep despite moves in the Senate to disrupt the vote for the legislation.

The Senate faced a disallowance motion for the 60DD policy brought by the Opposition yesterday, but Labor, the Greens and Senators David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe and Jacqui Lambie voted in the Senate to reject the delay to bring on the disallowance motion 31 votes to 26, The Guardian has reported.

The motion was in the name of the Shadow Health Minister, Anne Ruston, the Nationals leader in the Senate, Bridget McKenzie, One Nation senators Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts, and former Liberal David Van.

But when the moment arrived, none pressed it.

The Senate President, Sue Lines, announced the motion would remain on the books until the next sitting day, in case another senator wanted to adopt the motion.

After question time, the Labor Senator Louise Pratt adopted the orphaned disallowance motion, allowing the Senate to vote it down.

McKenzie immediately announced that the Coalition had lodged "another disallowance" motion that could see the measure put to a vote in the week of 04 Sep.

The Pharmacy Guild President Trent Twomey is calling on the Albanese Government to "sit down, properly consult and commit to an early start date for an Eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement (8CPA) over the next three weeks, before the Senate returns on 04 Sep to consider further disallowance motions".

"Instead of the Labor Party disallowing their own policy in the Senate, we should be sitting down and getting this policy right for millions of patients and thousands of community pharmacies.

"With more time we can implement a policy that doesn't force hundreds of pharmacies to close, puts thousands of pharmacy workers out of a job, and increases the cost of services for every aged care resident in the country."

The Federal Health Minister Mark Butler seems to be doubling down on the 60DD policy when speaking to the media, "I made that commitment and I'm going to deliver on that commitment.

"They'll [pharmacists] also lose some money from patient contributions, but let's put that in context, over the last four years, pharmacy, on its own figures, earned $100 billion, now, let's assume it earns that over the next four years, even though it grew by 30% over the last four.

"Even if there's no more growth, this measure will impact their revenue to the tune of about 1 or 2% on our costings that Treasury has done for us," Butler asserted.

"This is a highly profitable sector, with 34% average gross profit, and it's protected from competition.

"And can I say this, since I announced this measure in three months, we've had twice as many applications to open new pharmacies as we had last year, twice as many as we had last year.

"So clearly, people out there who want to open pharmacies think there's still money to be made."