on โ14-07-2015 11:30 AM
on โ14-07-2015 01:08 PM
How can this be a good thing?
which part of the following do
you not agree with?
Consumers will pay up to 50 per cent less for many common medicines under changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to be announced by Health Minister Sussan Ley on Wednesday.
The changes are also expected to save the budget about $3 billion over five years by encouraging consumers to choose cheaper, identical generic versions of off-patent drugs and less expensive similar drugs.
Ms Ley will introduce legislation to enact the changes on Wednesday after inking five-year deals with the Pharmacy Guild and the Generic Medicines Industry Association. Negotiations with the patented medicines industry, represented by Medicines Australia, were still underway on Tuesday night, but it is understood Ms Ley is determined to also implement changes to how patented drugs are priced, with or without the industry's agreement, given these are the most expensive drugs on the PBS.
Fairfax Media understands that for the first time, the government will demand price reductions on patented drugs for which there is only one brand.
In a change likely to anger big pharma, the price the government pays for these drugs will be cut by 5 per cent after they have been on the PBS for five years.
Prices for off-patent drugs will drop more dramatically due to a change to the process by which the government brings the prices it pays pharmacists for drugs into line with market prices.
Currently, drug prices are brought into line with a weighted average of the price of all brands.
Under the changes, to come into effect from October next year, the premium brand would be removed from these calculations, which will be based on the average of cheaper generic brands.
As a result, the government expects the retail price of the cholesterol-lowering drug rosuvastatin, which currently costs more than $35 a packet, will be cut to just over $18. Under the current arrangements, the retail price of the drug would have been reduced to just under $30.
The price of the anti-depressant venlafaxine would be about $5 a box cheaper as a result of the change, while a box of the heart disease drug clopidogrel would be about $3.60 cheaper.
To encourage greater use of generic drugs, an incentive paid to pharmacists will be retargeted, saving $570 million.
It will also launch a $20 million campaign to educate doctors and patients about the benefits of "biosimilar" drugs, substitute medicines which are not identical to other drugs but have been proven to be as effective and safe.
The government expects greater use of biosimilars to save more than $880 million over five years.
The agreement with the Pharmacy Guild includes an option for pharmacists to discount the patient contribution for PBS drugs by $1 a script, despite the famously powerful Guild opposing the discount, which would have to be absorbed by pharmacists.
The government expects the optional discount to encourage greater competition among pharmacists, and also save the budget about $360 million over five years due to fewer patients qualifying for free or heavily discounted medicines under the PBS safety net.
Across the entire package of PBS changes, the government expects to save $6 billion compared to current policies, but about $3 billion of this will be reinvested in the scheme.
These savings dwarf the $1 billion the government had once hoped to save by increasing PBS patient contributions and safety net thresholds. Ms Ley dumped those changes last week, admitting they had no hope of passing the Senate and were at odds with her ambition to make medicines more affordable.
Ms Ley said both agreements were a "win for consumers" and backed the Government's decision to include consumer groups in the negotiation process for the first time.
"Throughout the Government's negotiations with the entire pharmaceutical supply chain we have had consumers at the core of our negotiations and I think this shines through in the sensible measures we're delivering," she said.
Mark Crotty, the chairman of the Generic Medicines Industry Association said greater use of generic and biosimilar medicines would save money which could be used to pay for newer medicines.
Consumers Health Forum chief executive Leanne Wells said the changes, which also include $1.2 billion for pharmacists to deliver new services to patients, represented "a big step forward."
on โ14-07-2015 01:11 PM
@lurker172602 wrote:
Now that I have calmed down a bit, it's not that we can't afford it - we can. But this isn't some lifestyle/choice thing. People who take these drugs NEED them. I feel for those that might not be the financial position we are.
And I repeat me question. How can this be a good thing?
I doubt it can be a good thing. There has been some talk about the changes but all the talk about the changes has revolved around the price coming down. There's been virtually nothing on the price increases and little on the generic only subsidies.
on โ14-07-2015 01:15 PM
@lurker172602 wrote:
@*julia*2010 wrote:
First thing we knew about it was when he had to get a prescription filled today.
your responsibility to stay informed.
advance notices have been available on
gov website:
http://www.pbs.gov.au/browse/changes
Some of us have better things to do than patrol government websites on a daily basis.
The tone of your response speaks a lot to the conservative attitude to the less fortunate.
and here was i thinking practical
advice would be appreciated.
apart from announcing the changes through
the media - what else were you expecting?
perhaps your doctor should have informed
you as well.
The tone of your response speaks a lot to the conservative attitude to the less fortunate.
you're right. the less fortunate have
no access to media/internet. my bad.
on โ14-07-2015 01:19 PM
so, is your husbands medication
on the gen sub list or not?
on โ14-07-2015 01:22 PM
which part of the following do
you not agree with?
The part Lurker does not agree with is that overnight the price of her husbands life sustaining medication has gone up by 400%
I thought she made that fairly obvious.
on โ14-07-2015 01:30 PM
@the_great_she_elephant wrote:which part of the following do
you not agree with?
The part Lurker does not agree with is that overnight the price of her husbands life sustaining medication has gone up by 400%
I thought she made that fairly obvious.
the changes would have come into
effect on the 1st of july.
the changes were announced prior to that.
there was enough time to check if there was
a cheaper alternative.
so, is there a cheaper alternative to her husband's
life sustaining medication?
on โ14-07-2015 02:17 PM
In the past, when I have submitted prescriptions to the pharmacist, he has asked whether I wanted the cheaper alternative to that "named" on the script.
Perhaps, the doctor is not aware of costs of medicines, just that the formula and doseage is correct for the particular patient and the ailment.
Hope you and the new "grandpa" are okay, Lurker.
DEB
on โ14-07-2015 02:33 PM
wow, that's a huge price jump Lurker, must've been a bit of shock to you both.
Hubby had a heart attack at a young age and has been on heart meds for a long time, I think in our case, so far so good, couldn't find his on the list.. we'll find out next time he gets his script filled
on โ14-07-2015 02:41 PM
If the doctor has ticked the box for No Substitution then the chemist cannot substitute a cheaper generic brand. Maybe that is why they did not ask.
I have been on a certain medication for many years. First I was paying about $19.99 for it then a few years ago it was reduced to $13.99 which was great. I thought it was the generic but when I had to get another medication I just said to the chemist that I wanted generic. Back came the new medication and my long standing one had been changed to a generic which cost just $6.99. It definitely pays to ask.
I have also discovered that people with Pensioner or Health Care cards do not always save. Some years ago my pensioner neighbour was given several scripts by her doctor which she asked me to get filled for her. The chemist pointed out that the painkiller script was going to cost her $5 (Pensioner cost at the time) but it could be bought over the counter for $1.85. So how is that for the government ripping off Pensioners.
on โ14-07-2015 02:52 PM
Doctors have enough to do keeping up with changes in medical care. They do not have time to know what chemists charge or do not charge for every drug. Surely patients or their carers have to do some of the asking when walking into the pharmacy. Nothing to do with government ripping off pensioners.