Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee [Part 2], , 1:27:11 to 1:31:05
Officials provide updates on the uptake of 60-day prescriptions and the financial support provided to pharmacies under the 8th Community Pharmacy Agreement to ensure sector viability during the transition.
Topics: Health, Procurement
Speakers: Mike Pope, Senator Jana Stewart, Rachelle Davis, Senator Ellie Whiteaker, Unknown Speaker, Interjection
>> That is an excellent figure um to be able to tell Australians that's how much they've saved on their medicines across the country. Uh, in September 2023, the government introduced the 60-day prescriptions. How many medicines does that cover now? What's the uptake of 60-day prescriptions? Uh, and I remember there being quite a lot of commentary around around the impact that this would have on pharmacies. Have you been monitoring the impact of those changes on pharmacies too?
>> So, uh yes, Senator. Um so, 60-day prescriptions were introduced in three stages. It commenced in 2023 and September 2023 and the last stage commenced uh from the 1st of September 2024. Um in total, uh the number of medicines uh that were um ma that have been made eligible is uh just under 300 medicines. Um, and so for those medicines, uh, um, there's an option for a prescriber to prescribe 60 days worth of medicine, um, uh, rather than a typical 30-day, uh, script. Um, uh, so, uh, I'd have to, um, defer to colleagues about the impact on, uh, um, pharmacies. Um, uh, we don't have those officials here at the table just now.
>> Okay, we've got somebody coming up. while they're making their way up. I wonder if you could tell like tell um tell the committee tell me why that kind of why moving from the 30 days to 60 days was important for people in accessing or getting the kind of longer access to their medications.
>> Yeah, sure. So, um 60-day scripts essentially are designed for uh patients who uh have ongoing health conditions. So, they can now get twice the amount of medicine on a single prescription. Um and that means fewer trips to the doctor. It means fewer trips to the pharmacist. And it also means that they only pay one cohort co-ayment uh for um effectively uh 60 days of worth of medicine rather than 30. So that's a cost saving straight away.
>> Yeah.
>> Um and uh it's estimated that about 6 million Australians would benefit from the lower out-of- pocket costs and avoided consultations with prescribers associated with that.
>> You say 6 million Australians.
>> 6 million. Yes.
>> So they're saving cost by not having to go to the doctor twice and also not having to pick up their scripts twice.
Uh and also the fact that they're only paying one co-ayment
>> and one co-ayment
>> for [clears throat] uh 60 days worth of medicine rather than 30.
>> Good evening, Senator Michelle Davis, assistant secretary, health security and immunization division. Under the 8th community pharmacy agreement that commenced on 1 July 2024, there was an additional community supply support payment negotiated as part of that agreement that guaranteed approximately $2.1 billion over the 5year life of the 8th community pharmacy agreement. That >> you say that figure again? $2.1 billion dollars over the five years of the ETH community pharmacy agreement that um recognized the potential impact uh to reduce dispensing in the community pharmacy sector so that um payment or that payment adjustment mechanisms ensures the viability of the community pharmacy sector during the life of that
there was multiple things done at the same time with this really great policy that's saving Australians lots of money. There's really great health benefits, but also it sounds like pharmacy is really one out of this as well. >> Excellent. Thank you very much. Thank you, Chair.
>> Excellent. Thank you, uh, Senator Gate