Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We're not arguing over who started it. We are talking about this bill and what we are doing. It is a good system. It wasn't brought in in the last six years, but it is a wonderful system.

Thousands of people get drugs for complex or common conditions that would bankrupt whole families in other countries. In fact, people in some jurisdictions just can't afford their regular medicines, let alone the expensive ones. Under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, as we know, when people go to fill their script and a drug is on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, hundreds of thousands of people only pay $6.50 for their script if they're a concession cardholder. Even though it might cost $80,000 or $300,000, they are paying $6.50. For non-concession cardholders, it's $40.30. What a wonderful system. People with cancer, cystic fibrosis and with all sorts of rare genetic diseases can get drugs that improve their condition out of sight.

There are 186 million scripts dispensed in the PBS every year. That's a frighteningly large number, but we managed to pay for it because we have been wise with managing our money. Of these prescriptions, 91 per cent are dispensed to people who are on a concession card. This bill enacts a change to the safety net. The safety net is the financial threshold over which you don't even have to pay the $6.50 or the $40.30. We're reducing that from 60 scripts for a concession cardholder down to 48 scripts. That will deliver quite a considerable saving for the individual concerned. If you're a non-concession cardholder, we are reducing the number of prescriptions of PBS drugs that need to be dispensed before you reach that threshold from 38 scripts down to 36 scripts. That's dropping from $1,550 to $1,486. If you were telling some friends of mine who live on the west coast of America that they only had to pay that amount of money for their prescriptions, they wouldn't believe the system that we have here.

As you know, we have a good record. This government, since 2013, has listed over 2,100 new drugs on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. We're all very familiar with the wonderful new drugs for ovarian cancer, for all sorts of cancers like melanoma, the treatment for hepatitis C, the treatment for cystic fibrosis and the new cardiac drugs—all these wonderful pharmaceuticals are available. They're cutting-edge drugs. All the immunological, immune modulating drugs and all the drugs that target specific genetic abnormalities in cancers are available. They're incredibly expensive, but we can deliver them to people who need them for the price that they pay—either $6.50 or $40.30. It's a wonderful system.

In the budget, we have, as the first cab off the rank, the Medicare guarantee. Everything that is really important in the health system can be boiled down to three tranches. We have the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme; we have the Medicare system; and we provide a co-contribution, or a rebate, for private health insurance, so that people can afford to hold insurance, take responsibility for themselves and not put a strain on the public hospital system. So we have a very good blended system here.

Many would remember that this wasn't always the case. There was a period when the finances of the nation were in a runaway deficit situation. It's on the budget record—and many quotations have been delivered in this House, stating what we all remember very well—that a lot of PBS drugs were delayed in their listing until the budget position allowed. But it wasn't when we were in control of the Treasury benches and balancing the budget; it was, unfortunately, with the former, Labor-led government. Because they hadn't controlled their budget spending in so many other areas, they delayed treatments. I know if they look back they would admit it; it's just a fact. But we have managed to balance our books. We have finally brought the budget back into the black. But, well before that, as I said, we brought in the Medicare guarantee and we brought in all these new wonderful drugs.

There are many more coming through the pipeline, but we have a system. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee is a group of highly professional doctors, scientists, pharmacologists and medico-economists that look at the safety and the efficacy of the drug and how well it works against the current therapy. It goes through a rigorous analysis. If the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee makes a recommendation, the maker and the Australian government then negotiate a price. We are willing buyers of drugs and they are willing sellers, and general negotiation takes place. It is a sound system, because we have to deliver value for money and we are bulk purchasers of drugs. So not only is the science rigorous, but the financial side of the equation is also rigorous. We get a great deal for everyone in Australia who requires medication.

I am just so pleased that I was, by the lottery of life, born and live in Australia, because there are plenty of people that don't get the system that we have in this nation. So I would like to thoroughly recommend this bill to the House. It is going to cost the budget a considerable amount of money. The taxpayer will be paying $328 million more because of this safety net reduction. But it was a coalition commitment during the election to make medicines more affordable. We've delivered on our promises. We've delivered the drugs. We've delivered a balanced budget and we are delivering the best medicines for the people of Australia. I commend this bill to the House.

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