Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health. What is the government doing to make medicines more affordable and how will this benefit consumers in my electorate of Cowan?

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to take a question from the member for Cowan, whose electorate I visited recently and will soon be visiting again. I appreciate his passion for the community that he represents. Today we introduced into the parliament a package of measures that reform the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. The Access and Sustainability package has at its heart cheaper, more affordable medicines for consumers. For the first time, in bringing together this package we consulted with everybody in the medicine supply chain—the manufacturers of generic medicines, the manufacturers of innovative medicines, the pharmacists, the wholesalers, the prescribers, the doctors and, most of all, the consumers. Ultimately this system exists for the consumers and to make available on the PBS life-changing medicines that cure impossible diseases which we can only dream of, as the Treasurer mentioned, in terms of our Medical Research Future Fund.

The package of reforms I have introduced today, for which I look forward to the opposition's support, will do many things. It will give effect to the 6th Community Pharmacy Agreement. I thank the guild for their robust and strenuous representations on behalf of community pharmacies across the country. I am pleased to say that they have done very well for their members. This package realises total saves of $6.6 billion across the term of the agreement, but $2.8 billion is being reinvested in pharmacy. That will allow our pharmacy sector to become a key contributor in a team care approach to managing patients with chronic disease. We know that, as the burden of disease becomes more chronic and more complex, there is an important role for pharmacists. If we take these steps carefully, backed up by evidence, we will enable our pharmacists to perform an important role that is in the interests of their patients and certainly in the interests of the doctors who will be part of that cooperative approach.

But I come back to affordable medicines. The need for us to drive the uptake of generic drugs is front and centre; it is not as high in Australia as it needs to be. We need to make sure that, as patients have more access to the generic or brand free varieties, they pay less and, importantly, the government, the taxpayer, pays less to have those drugs listed on the PBS. Common drugs for lowering blood cholesterol, for heart conditions and for depression are expected to be up to 50 per cent less on retail scripts than they are now. We are proud that we have brought these reforms and changes to the parliament. Again, I look forward to the support of the opposition and the crossbench.