SOME common medicines could halve in price following the government’s new deals with the medicines industries, Health Minister Sussan Ley has told parliament.
THE agreements with the bodies representing pharmacies and the generic medicines industry will significantly reduce the price of generic medicines, she said.
Some of Australia’s most common medicines for cholesterol, heart conditions and depression could be up to $10 per script cheaper for general patients. Ms Ley, who introduced legislation to implement the five-year agreements on Wednesday, said consumers would get cheaper medicine, taxpayers would get better value for money, and access to innovative medicines would be improved. The government would save $3.7 billion over five years, with most of the savings coming from changes to Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme pricing. Other aspects of the agreements include giving chemists the option to offer a $1 per script discount, a doubling of investment in pharmacy primary care support programs and funding a campaign to increase consumer confidence in “bio-similar” medicines. Ms Ley foreshadowed measures to clamp down on selling over-the-counter medicines through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. These medicines – typically to relieve aches, pains and itches – can be sold without a prescription. However about 20 million are sold through a script – at a cost to the taxpayer for paracetamol alone of $73 million, which is enough to fund the potentially lifesaving drug ipilmumab for late stage melanoma. Ms Ley said controversial pharmacy location rules – which critics say are a costly form of protection – would be independently reviewed.