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Govt's PBS boast exposed
Posted 25 October 2018
The government's claim that it lists one medicine a day came under attack at Senate Estimates on Wednesday night with the department admitting only 57 new drugs had been listed in the past three years.
Health financing deputy secretary Penny Shakespeare said 13 medicines listed in 2015-16, 27 new medicines in 2016-17 and 17 medicines listed in 2017-18.
In total, 57 new medicines had listed over the three year period - on average less than two per month.
However, Sakespeare said 1920 new and amended listings had been made in the five years since October 2013, which equated to an average of 31 per month and "approximately one per day", she told the committee.
"Those all require in some cases new funding, in all cases negotiation with the department around the listing," Shakespeare said.
Labor Senator Murray Watt questioned whether the government's "one a day" claim was accurate.
"For the patients who get access to those medicines, it's a new listing to them," Shakespeare said.
"These are all changes to the PBS... They all involve public funding and effort."
The committe was told only two drugs failed to meet the department's requirement medicines be listed within six months of negotiations and budget impact being finalised in 2017-18.
These were AbbVie's hepatitis C therapy Maviret and Ferring's Rekovelle. Both were recommended by the PBAC in November 2017 and listed in August 2018.
Megan Brodie
Posted 25 October 2018
The government's claim that it lists one medicine a day came under attack at Senate Estimates on Wednesday night with the department admitting only 57 new drugs had been listed in the past three years.
Health financing deputy secretary Penny Shakespeare said 13 medicines listed in 2015-16, 27 new medicines in 2016-17 and 17 medicines listed in 2017-18.
In total, 57 new medicines had listed over the three year period - on average less than two per month.
However, Sakespeare said 1920 new and amended listings had been made in the five years since October 2013, which equated to an average of 31 per month and "approximately one per day", she told the committee.
"Those all require in some cases new funding, in all cases negotiation with the department around the listing," Shakespeare said.
Labor Senator Murray Watt questioned whether the government's "one a day" claim was accurate.
"For the patients who get access to those medicines, it's a new listing to them," Shakespeare said.
"These are all changes to the PBS... They all involve public funding and effort."
The committe was told only two drugs failed to meet the department's requirement medicines be listed within six months of negotiations and budget impact being finalised in 2017-18.
These were AbbVie's hepatitis C therapy Maviret and Ferring's Rekovelle. Both were recommended by the PBAC in November 2017 and listed in August 2018.
Megan Brodie
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