Crucial Medicines to Become Cheaper in Australia After PBS Expansions

A Pharmacy in Forest Lake on the southside of Brisbane is seen on May 14, 2015. (Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Thousands of Australians suffering from eye disease, asthma and the rare blood disorder AL amyloidosis will now have more affordable medicines after the federal government expanded the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to include vital medicines.

Health Minister Mark Butler said in the announcement of the expansion the federal government has decided to welcome three new medicines to the PBS, including Vabysmo (faricimab)—which is used to treat both diabetic macular oedema (DMO) and neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (nAMD)—Trimbow (belcometasone with formoterol and glycopyrronium) for the treatment of severe asthma and Darzalex SC (daratumumab) to treat the blood disorder amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis.

Butler said these additions would help an estimated 81,360 Australians who suffer from DMO (18,000), nAMD (62,000), severe asthma (1,200), and amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis (160) and will save those suffering from the conditions an estimated $351.6 million (US$238.8 million).

According to Health Minister Mark Butler, Australians suffering from DMO and nAMD faced costs of more than $4,000 a year to treat their conditions if they had not been included in the PBS. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)

He said that the additions, along with 61 other new additions, had helped the government deliver on its promise to cut the cost of medications for millions of Australians.

“Pharmacists have told me stories of their customers coming in with a handful of prescriptions asking for advice about which script they can go without, because they can’t afford to fill them all,” the health minister said.

“Our cheaper medicines policy will make that choice redundant for millions of Australians.”

According to Butler, Australians suffering from DMO and nAMD faced costs of more than $4,000 a year to treat their conditions if they had not been included in the PBS, while those suffering from amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis faced costs of $240,000 per course of treatment and severe asthmatics faced costs of more than $1,000.

Move Welcomed By Pharmacists

The move has been welcomed by pharmacists, with South Australian pharmacist Colin Johns applauding the government for reducing the co-payment for PBS medicines for Australians who do not have a concession card.

“This reduction will be of benefit to the Australian community,” Johns said, noting it was a direct result of the federal government consulting with the Australian Pharmacy Guild.

A pharmacy is seen in Melbourne, Australia, on Sept. 29, 2021. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

“Community pharmacy, in partnership with the Australian government, is committed to improving patient outcomes, and especially in times of rising living costs, no patient should ever have to choose between lifesaving medication and food on the table.”

Federal Government Faces Pressure From States About Medicare

The expansions of the PBS come as the federal government comes under pressure from New South Wales and Victoria to fix Australia’s public health system.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said on Tuesday that state-run hospitals were too often finding themselves being used as a safety net because of an ongoing shortage of bulk-billing general practitioners.

“This is not our job,” Andrews said. “That system is broken. You cannot find a bulk-billing doctor, particularly out of hours, and that’s not the way it should be. That’s why this needs to be a key priority for reform around the national cabinet table in 2023.”

Andrews noted that he was confident that other state premiers and territory leaders would support his move to press the federal Labor government to reform aged care, the National Disability Insurance Scheme and Medicare.

“We can’t have a situation where Medicare doesn’t work and all of those patients, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of patients across the nation, are forced into already busy emergency departments,” he added.

Agreeing with Andrews, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said that fixing Australia’s health system was the country’s “most urgent national priority.”

“It is the biggest challenge facing our country,” Perrottet said. "When you go through a pandemic and you see the pressure on the system, we need to reform Medicare.

“We need to have our public state health system working in support of the GP network. At the moment, they are working against each other.”

The comments from the premiers come after both state governments in August 2022 pledged to open 25 urgent primary care clinics to limit lower-level patients clogging up emergency departments when unable to secure an appointment with a bulk-billing GP.

At present, just ten have opened in Victoria, while another 12 are on track to open in February, at the cost to the Victorian taxpayers of $70 million.

Federal Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt has said that the federal Labor government was pouring significant funding into the health system to repair what he termed a “decade of damage” by the former Liberal-Nationals.

“The issues we have seen with the NDIS, a complete breakdown in aged care ... has put immense pressure on our public hospitals,” he said.

“We are taking steps across a range of these issues, with the aim of relieving pressure in state and public hospitals.”