Govt To Tackle Perverse Incentives In Health System, Says Susan Ley

There will be a crackdown on drugs as part of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme next month in Australia’s federal budget. Included among these over-the-counter medicines that could be erased from the list are Imodium, paracetamol, panadol, aspirin and antacids.

This move would not only halt the hoarding of drugs by pensioners, but would also save the taxpayers a whopping $1 billion. This means that once the annual PBS safety net is reached, the pensioners and other concession card holders won’t be able to receive pain killers and other products like laxatives for free.

At present, concession card holders can get off-the-shelf medicines for free after receiving 60 scripts annually. This is despite the fact that there is no prescription needed for them to be bought at supermarkets where they are quite cheap.

"I want the PBS to be sustainable to pay for new generation cancer drugs and expensive medications that absolutely need to be given to patients with the close involvement of their pharmacist and their doctor," Health Minister Sussan Ley told ABC radio. "A responsible fiscal approach across the health portfolio demands that we do this. It's also common sense," she said.

The health minister also affirmed that this would not result in the creation of avoidable risks that the patients would take drugs in lethal combinations, or in fact take much more painkillers than are actually required.

To reduce the cost of medications, allowing the chemist to give an upto $1 discount for the $6.10 co-payment charged to patients, is also being considered by the government. This is also being pursued as an attempt to increase competition in the pharmacy field. It was recently reported by the Fairfax media that visiting a doctor to buy common painkillers like Nurofen Plus and panadeine may be made mandatory by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, which safeguards and enhances the health of Australian community via effective and timely regulation of therapeutic goods. This is being thought of due to the lethal overuse, addiction and dangerous side effects of these pills.

Some other medicines meant for not highly intense pains like headaches and tooth aches could also be impacted by this change. These medications include Codral Original Cold and Flu tablets, Aspalgin Soluble tablets and Mersyndol tablets.

The writer can be contacted at ritambanati@yahoo.com