A popular budget measure to double the length of common medicine scripts is facing an unexpected hurdle, with crossbench senators joining the Coalition in pushing the government to go back to the negotiating table with pharmacies.
The Health Department will officially register the policy on Friday, making an initial tranche of about 100 medicines eligible for 60-day scripts from September 1 – in effect halving their cost for consumers.
The Health Department will on Friday register the policy, making the first tranche of medicines eligible for 60-day scripts from September 1.Credit: Louie Douvis
But the Greens are yet to decide whether they support the change and the Jacqui Lambie Network says it wants the government to return to the drawing board, with senators from both parties accusing Health Minister Mark Butler of failing to properly consult pharmacies.
The powerful Pharmacy Guild lobby group has mounted a staunch campaign against the proposal on behalf of pharmacy owners, who say they will have to cut staff and services if they lose government dispensing fees and retail sales as people’s trips to the chemist become less frequent.
They have also warned of widespread medicine shortages if patients are able to buy two months’ supply instead of one.
In a sign the guild’s campaign has gained traction among politicians, Greens health spokesperson Jordon Steele-John told the Senate this week he was worried the policy would hurt local pharmacies.
“I would very much agree that the Albanese government has not consulted effectively with community pharmacists on how these changes will impact on them. I have heard that there will be significant impacts,” he said in the chamber on Tuesday.
“We are encouraging the government to find a way forward on this, for the minister to consider the doubling of dispensing fees until a new pharmacy agreement has been finalised, or to commit to reimbursing any losses at a community pharmacy that can be proven as an unintended impact of the 60-day dispensing measure.”
He said Butler should not make assumptions about the Greens’ position, and that the minor party would continue negotiating with the government to prevent “unintended consequences”.
Senator Tammy Tyrrell, of the Jacqui Lambie Network, also called for Butler to boost the dispensing fees that pharmacies receive with each script.
“I’ve spent the past few weeks talking to my local pharmacists in Tassie, and some of them have been in tears. They’re scared. At worst, they’re looking down the barrel of a policy that will see a lot of them close their doors, and, at best, the policy will see some small-business pharmacies cutting services, cutting staff and reducing opening hours,” she said.
“The minister need to go back to the table on this policy. The government should increase the dispensing fee for pharmacists in the community pharmacy agreement to cover the revenue lost by this policy … I want people to have cheaper medicine, but ripping the guts out of community pharmacies isn’t the way to do it.”
A spokesperson for Butler said the government would continue consulting the pharmacy sector and members of the crossbench.
The policy follows a recommendation of the independent Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee, which was first made in 2018 but never enacted by the former government.
Doctors’ groups and peak body the Consumers Health Forum of Australia strongly support the change, which could save people up to $180 a year on 320 common medicines.
The forum launched its own website this week to counter the guild’s claims about medicine shortages and argue that pharmacies had many other sources of income such as vaccinations. Butler has promised to reinvest any government savings into the sector.
An exclusive Resolve Political Monitor survey conducted for this masthead after the May budget found 72 per cent of voters agreed with the government’s script plan.
But as the Pharmacy Guild has escalated its campaign and shifted its focus from medicine shortages to small business viability, some backbench Labor MPs have raised concerns internally and the Coalition has ramped up its attack on the government for failing to work with the pharmacy sector to mitigate its losses.
The opposition’s health spokesperson, Anne Ruston, who raised the issue in the Senate this week, said it supported Australians’ access to affordable medications.
“But the government’s failure to consult has been borne out time and time again since this ill-conceived policy was put into the public domain back in April. It was a great headline, but the consequences of this policy were completely ignored in the policy’s development,” she said.
“I think one of the most distressing things is just how many secondary impacts are likely to result from this: pharmacy closures, reduced hours and reduced services.”
The 60-day policy is a disallowable instrument, meaning it does not require legislation to pass parliament. Senators will, however, have 15 sitting days to veto the change once it is tabled on July 31, should they reach a majority. Neither the Greens nor Coalition has finalised its position.
A guild spokesman said “more and more patients, politicians and pharmacists” were questioning the policy. “It’s time for the government to rethink its decision and consult with community pharmacies properly,” he said.
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