Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I thank members for their contributions to the debate on this bill. I can assure all members of the parliament that this government understands the importance of community pharmacy, access to the PBS and health more broadly. Like you, we know first-hand from the people in our electorates the expectations that patients and families have of the PBS. They want affordable access to the treatments they need regardless of their income, family make-up, health status or location.

The PBS comes at a price. We have an ageing population and increasing rates of chronic disease. New medicines are increasingly complex and expensive. In 1991, there were no listings over $1,000. Now, there are almost 600 listings for medicines that cost over $1,000 for each prescription. Only last month we announced a $1.3-billion investment in new medicines, most of which would cost consumers in excess of $10,000 a year without the PBS subsidy.

The government used the negotiation of Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement as an opportunity to consider a wide range of ways to improve access to medicines and improve the sustainability of the PBS. Consultation occurred across the PBS supply chain with the involvement of over 20 stakeholder organisations and has resulted in a supported package of measures. The consultations and negotiations for the package and the resulting agreements with pharmacy and industry were conducted in a way that took into account the recommendations from the ANAO review of the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement. The responses to those recommendations benefited the consultation process in a very positive way. I am aware that not all stakeholders agree with all components of the package. However, all components have a solid body of support from across the stakeholder groups. While on the subject of consultations, I know those opposite raised issues of time lines and consultations with the Labor Party. Perhaps members opposite have forgotten that they announced their simplified price disclosure changes—an $800-million hit on pharmacy—on 2 August, at five minutes to midnight, before the election and with no consultation whatsoever with affected parties.

This is the kind of hypocrisy that we have come to expect. I also note that Labor introduced legislation for the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement on 12 May 2010, I am advised, with no prior consultation with the opposition at this time. If the government is guilty of anything, it is of having a similar time frame for finalising this agreement as Labor did when they were in government.

On 24 May I was pleased to announce that the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and the Generic Medicines Industry Association had signed agreements with the Commonwealth committing their support to implementing the measures in the package. I thank the guild and the GMIA for their hard work and collaboration in achieving their respective agreements. Medicines Australia has also signalled its intention to make an agreement, and I expect that process to be finalised soon.

These agreements recognise that everyone must contribute to a sustainable PBS in order to share the benefits. The measures in the package will deliver up to $18.9 billion to community pharmacy and wholesalers over the next five years, an increase of over $3 billion on the fifth CPA. This is a fair investment in pharmacy and a balanced investment in these current fiscal circumstances. The measures also deliver net savings to the PBS of around $3.7 billion over five years. But, equally, these measures also deliver savings to consumers through cheaper medicines under price disclosure and cheaper medicines through allowing discounting of the patient co-payment. Importantly, the government continues to invest in new medicines with more than $1.3 billion invested in the May budget, with more high-cost drugs currently before government.

The changes in this bill are required to implement seven of the measures contained in the Access and Sustainability Package. Savings from price reductions in F1 and F2 will continue to support subsidies for new and innovative products. Changes to the operation of price disclosure for originated brands and combination items will deliver benefits from competition at the generic end of the market.

For the pharmacy sector, the Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement provides revised remuneration arrangements that will enable pharmacy to innovate and transition from a focus on medicine supply to medicines management and pharmacy services. There is increased funding for new pharmacy programs with evaluation to ensure they are clinically appropriate and cost-effective. For consumers, the ability of pharmacists to reduce co-payments moments by $1 will lower out-of-pocket costs. The safety net will still be there to protect individuals and families who require a lot of medicines.

The government, for the PBS, relies on the expert advice of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. I recently announced the appointment of Professor Andrew Wilson as the new chairperson for the committee. The revised PBAC membership structure provided for in the bill will allow for more streamlined processes and provide the flexibility required to handle the committee's increased workload.

The measures in the package focus PBS funding towards treatments that would otherwise be out of reach for individuals, important advances in therapy and expensive, complex medicines for serious conditions. It is no longer in the interests of patients or taxpayers to continue to subsidise relatively low cost items available directly from pharmacies. The proposed delisting of certain over-the-counter medicines from the PBS reflects this. The cost of paracetamol for one year is equal to the cost of funding ipilimumab for late-stage melanoma for one year. One costs between $2 and $7 a packet and the other tens of thousands of dollars per injection. Affordability is a paramount consideration in the future of the PBS.

I thank members for comments and thank the stakeholders involved in working with the government to develop the proposals and agreements. This is a balanced package of measures which provides fair outcomes for pharmacy, the medicines industry, patients and the Australian community. These changes deserve to be supported. They will help to strengthen the PBS into the future. They are reasonable, they are necessary and they are needed now. I commend the bill to the House.

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