Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak on the National Health Amendment (General Co-payment) Bill 2022, which amends the National Health Act 1953 to reduce the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme general co-payment by $12.50, saving patients out-of-pocket costs. The opposition remains absolutely committed to ensuring Australians have access to affordable medicines when they need them. We support this legislation to reduce the cost of medicines, noting that it is the result of a copycat election promise made by Labor responding to the coalition's commitment to ensure Australians could save hundreds of dollars every year on the cost of essential and life-saving medicines. The coalition has a strong record of delivering affordable, life-saving medicines for all Australians, and we encourage the Albanese government to continue with our policy to list all medicines on the PBS that are recommended by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee.

This bill amends the PBS general co-payment from the current amount of $42.50 to the new amount of $30, taking effect from 1 January 2023. For certain medicines or treatments that have a Commonwealth price between $30 and $42.50, indexed annually, the bill gives pharmacists an option to discount that price to general patients by more than a dollar while supplying as a PBS prescription. This ensures no patient is worse off after the reduction of the general patient charge, given the established practice for pharmacists to be able to discount medicines that have a Commonwealth price at or below the current general patient charge.

The bill gives effect to an election commitment made by Labor in response to the coalition's clear leadership on this issue, as I said. On 30 April 2022, the coalition announced an election commitment to reduce the PBS general patient charge by $10 as part of an annual $150 million hip-pocket saving for Australians. We planned to wind the clock back on the cost of medications, reducing the cost per script back to 2008 prices. Following this announcement, on the very next day, Labor announced that they would reduce the charge by $12.50, so we're pleased we could lead the government into making commitments on this important policy area to support the hip pockets of Australians who rely on essential medicines and treatments. It's worth reminding the House of the coalition's record on affordable medicines because we do have a strong track record of providing Australians with timely, affordable access to effective medicines, treatments and services.

When we were in government, we listed more than 2,800 new and amended medicines on the PBS, representing an average of around 30 listings a month. Most recently, from 1 April 2022 our strong economic plan meant that we were able to assure that patients suffering from severe heart failure, high cholesterol and high blood pressure could afford cheaper medicines to treat their conditions. We were also able to list life-saving drugs to support Australians with asthma, prostate cancer, Castleman disease, HIV and Crohn's disease. This includes the PBS listing of Trelegy Ellipta 200, which was funded by our government, to be expanded for Australians with severe asthma. Asthma, as members of the House know, is a common chronic condition and can become serious, especially if untreated. Without the PBS subsidy, over 1,000 Australians may have paid more than $1,000 a year for treatment.

Another integral listing supported by the former coalition government was an oral treatment that has shown improved survival outcomes for patients with prostate cancer who have specific gene variants. Prostate cancer is the second-most-common cancer diagnosed in men in Australia and the third-most-common cause of cancer deaths, with an estimated 1 in 6 men diagnosed with prostate cancer by the age of 85. And we did not plan to stop there. In the coalition's 2022-23 budget we provisioned $2.4 billion for more new and amended PBS listings. These listings also included critical treatments for breast cancer, cystic fibrosis, severe eczema, asthma, spinal muscular atrophy, HIV infection and heart failure.

In conclusion, I restate that the coalition, the opposition, will support Labor's bill and we do agree with their intent, which was first promulgated by us during the campaign, to make medicines cheaper. We do encourage them, with the constant advances in medicines, new treatments and expansions of treatments for existing drugs to existing conditions, that they continue and commit to listing medicines on the PBS that are recommended by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee.

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