Senate debates

Wednesday, 21 November 2012

Questions without Notice

Docetaxel

2:09 pm

Photo of Ian MacdonaldIan Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Remote Australia) Share this | | Hansard source

My question is a very serious one to the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Ageing relating to the treatment of cancer patients. I refer the minister to reports this morning that the government's failure to resolve a funding shortfall for chemotherapy will result in an increase in treatment costs of $100 per chemotherapy transfusion for cancer patients. Given that medical facilities will unlikely be able to pass on the increase in prices, does the government expect cancer patients to seek treatment in an already overcrowded public system that received a funding cut of $1.6 billion in the MYEFO, or does the government expect private centres to cough up an estimated $1 million in increased costs? Is this not just another Labor disaster in Health?

2:10 pm

Photo of Joe LudwigJoe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | | Hansard source

I thank Senator Ian Macdonald for his question. Prices paid by cancer patients for PBS medicines are not affected by this price reduction. Pharmacists and hospitals cannot charge patients extra for PBS medicines; in fact, consumers benefit from cheaper drugs as government savings are used to subsidise new cancer drugs on the PBS.

Since 2007 price disclosure on cancer drugs has saved taxpayers around $118 million. What will occur on 1 December is that the price the government pays for the cancer drug docetaxel will drop by 70 per cent, bringing the price the government pays into line with the market price. For many years pharmacists have been charging the government 20 to 75 per cent above the market price. These inflated prices have meant that the government has paid, in some instances, $2,800 above the market price for this drug.

Since 2007 the government has committed $1.3 billion to fund 30 new or amended cancer treatments on the PBS. We are putting more money into cancer treatments. Treatment options for over 15 different cancers such as leukaemia, breast cancer, prostate cancer, bone cancer, lung cancer and bowel cancer have all been expanded under this government. Cancer drug patients pay no more than one PBS copayment for the first prescription dispensed, with no additional copayment for repeated prescriptions: in other words, a patient will pay either $5.80 or $35.40 for the first injection or infusion of the drug but not for the repeats. In some instances, the average monthly cancer treatment costs are over $5,000, so you can see there has been a lot of misinformation about it. (Time expired)

2:12 pm

Photo of Ian MacdonaldIan Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Remote Australia) Share this | | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Is the minister's answer consistent with the health minister's press release of this morning saying she would look into that, accepting that there will be increases that are difficult for patients? Is the minister also aware that St Andrew's Toowoomba Hospital in our home state of Queensland will face increased costs of between $800,000 and $1 million, and has warned of the possible closure of its cancer clinic? Why is the government abandoning vulnerable cancer patients in its increasingly desperate bid to return the budget to a surplus?

2:13 pm

Photo of Joe LudwigJoe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | | Hansard source

There has been a lot of misinformation put out on this. I thought I covered, in my answer to the primary question, most of the information that was pertinently necessary to explain what had happened. We now have a range of people making a range of claims who need to realise the answer that I gave to the primary question still holds for the supplementary question.

To be clear, if you are asking how much cancer patients pay for their cancer drugs, the cancer drug patients pay no more than one PBS copayment for the first prescription dispensed, with no additional copayment for repeated prescriptions. A patient will pay $5.80 or $35.40 for the first injection or infusion of the drug but not for the repeats. There have been no budget cuts in this area. What there has been is an expansion— (Time expired)

Senator Boyce interjecting

2:14 pm

Photo of Ian MacdonaldIan Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Remote Australia) Share this | | Hansard source

Mr President, could I repeat Senator Boyce's interjection: what about the infusion costs? I also ask the minister a further supplementary question. Has he seen Ms Plibersek's press release which says that she will have a look at the cost of chemotherapy if prices are too high, acknowledging that the decisions of this government have caused that problem. Will the minister now concede that the government has no capacity to properly manage these sensitive health issues and will do anything to fill its $120 billion great big budget black hole in unfunded promises?

2:15 pm

Photo of Joe LudwigJoe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | | Hansard source

I think there is a lot of misinformation being put into the public domain that patients' access to cancer treatment in the private sector is going to be reduced. That is not true. The Australian government meets the full cost of chemotherapy drugs supplied under the PBS. There are a range of separate clinical services that pharmacists provide in the treatment of cancer. These are not related to the supply of the PBS drug, but are separately funded through the hospital system. How these are funded is a matter for each individual hospital service. It is very important to separate out what the Commonwealth does. We have expanded the services in this area significantly. We have provided $1.3 billion to ensure improved cancer services. There has been no budget reduction in this area. What this government has done and continues to do— (Time expired)