Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

The opposition is very pleased to support the National Health Amendment (General Co-payment) Bill 2022, because it enables the implementation of a key coalition election commitment—a commitment that the Labor Party was shamed into copying during the election campaign. The bill amends the National Health Act 1953 to reduce the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme general co-payment by $12.50, from $42.50 to $30, saving patients on out-of-pocket expenses. The opposition remains absolutely committed to ensuring that Australians have access to affordable medicines when they need them, and we support this legislation to reduce the costs of medicines because the coalition has always been committed to ensuring that Australians can access essential and lifesaving medicines at an affordable price. The coalition has a strong record of delivering affordable, life-saving medicines for all Australians. We encourage this government to continue our policy of listing all medicines on the PBS that are recommended by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Council.

The bill amends the PBS general co-payment from the current amount of $42.50 to a new amount of $30, taking effect as of 1 January 2023. For certain medicines or treatments that have a Commonwealth price between $30 and $42.50—which are indexed annually—the bill gives pharmacists an option to discount that price to general patients by more than $1 while supplying it as a PBS script. This ensures that no patient is worse off after the reduction of the general patient charge, given the established practice of pharmacists to be able to discount medicines that have a Commonwealth price at or below the current general patient charge. The bill gives effect to an election commitment made by Labor in response to the coalition's clear leadership on this issue.

On 30 April 2022 the coalition announced an election commitment to reduce the PBS general patient charge by $10 as part of an annual $150 million hip pocket saving for Australians. We planned to wind the clock back on the cost of medications, reducing the cost per script back to 2008 prices. Following this announcement, on the very next day, Labor announced that they would reduce the general co-payment by an additional $2.50.

I also note that in the budget last night Labor continued their longstanding commitment to copying coalition policies by listing medicines on the PBS that we had already announced were going to be listed. We had provisioned for skin cancer patients to get PBS access to Libtayo, which will benefit around a thousand patients with metastatic or locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma each year. Without this subsidy patients face costs of more than $144,000 for a single course of treatment. We had also provisioned for the 1,450 patients with advanced and metastatic gastro-oesophageal cancers to benefit from the listing extension of Opdivo on the PBS, saving these patients over $92,000 per course of treatment.

Another copycat initiative of this new government is trying to claim credit for its funding of support for an additional 71,000 people who live with type 1 diabetes, enabling them to get access to subsidised continuous glucose monitoring—an initiative that was announced by the coalition government earlier this year. I welcome the government's decision to support these measures, and their recognition that the coalition is a policy leader when it comes to affordable medicines and supporting Australians who rely on them. We are pleased that we were able to lead the government into making commitments in this important policy area to support the hip pockets of Australians who rely on essential medicines and treatments.

The coalition has a strong track record of providing Australians with timely, affordable access to effective medicines, treatments and services. When we were in government we listed more than 2,800 new or amended medicines on the PBS, representing an average of around 30 new listings per month. Most recently, from 1 April 2022, our strong economic plan meant that we were able to ensure that patients suffering from severe heart failure, high cholesterol and high blood pressure could afford cheaper medicines to treat their conditions. We were also able to list life-saving drugs to support Australians with asthma, prostate cancer, Castleman disease, HIV and Crohn's disease. This included the PBS listing of Trelegy Ellipta 200, which was funded by our government to be expanded for Australians with severe asthma. Asthma is a common chronic condition and can become serious, especially if untreated. Without the PBS subsidy over a thousand Australians may have paid more than a thousand dollars per year for treatment.

Another integral listing supported by the former coalition government was an oral treatment that has shown improved survival outcomes for patients with prostate cancer who have specific gene variants. Prostate cancer is the second-most common cancer diagnosed in men in Australia and the most common cause of cancer death, with one in six men estimated to be diagnosed with prostate cancer by the age of 85.

We did not plan to stop there. In the coalition's 22-23 budget we provisioned $2.4 billion for more new and amended PBS listings. These listings also included critical treatments for breast cancer, cystic fibrosis, severe asthma, spinal muscular atrophy, HIV infection and heart failure. By listing medications on the PBS, we ensured that Australians have access to affordable, life-saving medications that, without a subsidy, would otherwise cost thousands of dollars, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It is disappointing that Labor had stopped listing medicines on the PBS when they were last in government in 2011 because they couldn't manage money. Australians requiring medicines to treat severe asthma, chronic pain, schizophrenia, blood clots, IVF, endometriosis and prostate conditions were all impacted by Labor's inability to afford important investments in the PBS. In announcing this legislation, the Albanese government highlighted the reduction in the copayment as a cost-of-living relief measure to address the significant pressures facing Australians right now right across the country. Although the opposition supports reducing the cost of medicines to provide relief directly to the hip pockets of Australians, it is important to note this is one of the very few cost-saving relief measures the Albanese government has announced in its budget so far and it also does not take effect until 2023.

We on this side support Labor's bill to reduce the general copayment for medicines on the PBS; however, we hope that they do not consider their job done on supporting Australian families with the rising cost of living by this one initiative. The opposition has significant concerns that the Albanese government could fall back into their old pattern of having to stop making critical investments into essential supports for Australians and we will hold the government to account so they do not repeat the disaster of their poor economic management in their last term in government that saw important medicines stop being listed. I commend this bill to the Senate.