Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the National Health Amendment (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2016. Labor will support this bill but makes three minor technical changes to the administration of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Given the government's growing list of tech failures, I state from the outset that we will be keeping our eye on the rollout of these changes.

Firstly, this bill allows the Minister for Health, the Secretary of the Department of Health and the Chief Executive of Medicare to delegate administrative actions, including decision making, to computer programs. This will allow for automated online processing of PBS claims so that pharmacists do not have to submit hard copy prescriptions to the Department of Human Services for reconciliation. It will also allow approvals for certain prescriptions to be granted online rather than on the phone or in writing, as at present.

As mentioned, the government has an appalling track record on IT—in fact, it is really quite embarrassing. There is not a business out there that could get away with as many digital failures as this government has. So I do want to flag that we will be watching the rollout of the computerised decision making very, very closely. We do not want the rollout of this technology to have the same fate as all of the other IT projects the government has bungled like the census, the Centrelink debt debacle and the availability of Medicare and PBS data on data.gov.au.

That said, I acknowledge that this bill includes safeguards. The minister, secretary and chief executive will remain responsible for decisions made on their behalf by the computer programs. The minister, secretary and chief executive will be able to override a decision made by a computer program. Decisions that are currently reviewable by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal will remain reviewable regardless of whether they are made by a computer program.

The bill also allows pharmacists whose premises have been affected by disaster or exceptional circumstances like a flood or fire to supply pharmaceutical benefits nearby at an alternative premises for up to six months. Affected pharmacists will apply to the secretary of the health department for permission to operate from alternative premises. The secretary will exercise discretion over whether the usual premises have been affected by a disaster or exceptional circumstances, whether the alternative premises are substantially in the same location and other administrative questions.

The bill is intended to help maintain access to medicines for communities that have been affected by disasters or exceptional circumstances—and we are thinking about all our fellow Australians in the north of Queensland at this time. It will also improve arrangements for affected pharmacists, who are currently required to submit a full pharmacy application for temporary premises and are only paid 90 per cent of the value of claims until that application is approved.

The bill also clarifies that PBS benefits can be provided to concessional beneficiaries and their dependants on the day of their death. A quirk in the current law provides that benefits cease on the day prior to death, consistent with social security legislation, because in that case other social security benefits apply from the date of death. These are largely administrative changes which have been welcomed by stakeholders across the sector.

This bill makes three minor improvements to the administration of the PBS, but it does nothing about the real threat to the PBS, which is the government's plan to increase the price of every medicine by up to $5. This is a zombie measure from the notorious 2014 budget that the government refuses to kill off. In the horror budget of 2014 the government announced cuts of $1.3 billion from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to be achieved by increasing co-payments and safety net thresholds. The measure includes increasing co-payments for general patients by $5 and for concessional patients by 80c. Labor has consistently fought this cut, and so far we have prevented it from becoming law. Despite this, the Prime Minister included the PBS price hike in his 2016 budget, a clear signal of his commitment to continue with this measure.

The most vulnerable—the poor, elderly and sick—will be worst hit by the Liberals' plans to cut the PBS. For example, a general patient filling two prescriptions per month will be $100 per year worse off on medicines alone. The more expensive medicines become, the less likely people are to fill their prescriptions. The latest Bureau of Statistics patient experience survey shows that up to 10 per cent of people already delay or avoid filling a prescription due to the cost. Thanks to this out-of-touch government, we are already seeing people skip seeing their doctor, and pretty soon we will start to see people living in areas of greatest disadvantage skipping out on getting their prescriptions filled. This goes against everything our universal healthcare system is supposed to represent.

During the federal election campaign, Labor committed to reversing the Prime Minister's plan to raise the price of vital medicines. Millions of Australians voted against the Prime Minister's price hikes to medicines and his other health cuts. But he has not listened. It is time for the Prime Minister to listen to the people of Australia and drop his plan to raise the price of medicines. Vulnerable Australians struggling to get by each week should not have to weigh up paying for their medicines or paying for groceries.

While Labor supports the passage of the legislation to make minor improvements to the administration of the PBS, we once again call on the Prime Minister to drop his plan to raise the price of medicines. Affordable medicine is at the heart of Medicare and our universal healthcare system, and Labor will continue to fight against any increase. We will fight to protect vulnerable Australians.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The changes in this bill remind us that, while we rely on the PBS to provide access to increasingly complex medicines for our health, it is also important that the PBS itself undergoes continual improvement and embraces new technologies. Enabling the use of computer decision-making provides the opportunity for the PBS to move from computer assisted processing to fully automated online transactions and approvals.

The ability to obtain most PBS authority approvals online in real time will benefit every medical practice. It will allow doctors to use some of the time otherwise spent on telephone calls as additional time for caring for patients. On a similar basis, automated online processing for pharmacy claims will reduce administrative work and payment times for pharmacists.

Many organisations were consulted regarding the measures in this bill. These included pharmacy, medical consumer, pharmaceutical industry and medical software peak bodies, and I say to them: your participation in and contribution to this process has been appreciated.

The amendments proposed today will deliver efficiencies that will improve the operation of the PBS. The changes reflect the government's commitment to digital health services and to reducing red tape. The changes are necessary and practical. They will benefit prescribers and pharmacists directly and benefit patients by reducing the administrative work of doctors. The Pharmacy Guild of Australia has said that these are commonsense changes. We can only agree. I commend the bill to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.