A majority of locals in NSW rural towns want rules changed to allow discount chemists
A new deal with chemists is set to force the price of medicines up even though a majority of rural patients in NSW surveyed want the rules abolished. VOTE, HAVE YOUR SAY
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Exclusive: More than half of the residents in 18 NSW rural towns have delayed buying medication for financial reasons and the rules that keep their medicine prices high are about to be entrenched.
Three in four residents in these towns want the rules changed to allow discount pharmacies into their towns, a new survey by Chemist Warehouse has found.
Location rules that prevent a new pharmacy opening within 1.5 kilometres of an existing chemist are shutting discount pharmacies out of country towns and driving up the price of medicine.
General patients in these towns are paying up to three times more for medicines than they would at a discount chemist.
Pensioners in these towns are missing out on a $1 discount chemists can apply to the $6.50 and $40.30 charge consumers pay for subsidised medicine.
The Government is currently negotiating a new five year agreement with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia but Health Minister Greg Hunt has said it will not change these outdated location rules.
This is despite the fact two government inquiries ruled the location rules are anti-competitive and against the interests of consumers.
The Dean of Melbourne Business School Professor Ian Harper who chaired the government’s competition policy review in 2014-15 says if people can’t afford to get their scripts filled it affects their health.
“I make the point the location rules are not in the interests of consumers,” he said.
A spokesman for Health Minister Greg Hunt said the pharmacy location rules aim to ensure an appropriate spread of pharmacies across Australia.
“The Australian Parliament recently legislated the Pharmacy Location Rules to encourage an appropriate geographical spread of community pharmacies, including in regional and rural areas.
“The Government is required to comply with legislation made by the Australian Parliament. It cannot override this through a pharmacy agreement,” he said.
Discount chemist chain Chemist Warehouse recently surveyed 790 people in 18 NSW towns including Bathurst, Wagga, Goulburn, Broken Hill.
It found 57 per cent of people had travelled to another town to access cheaper prices at a discount chemist.
Three in four people wanted a change in the law to increase pharmacy competition and said they would like a discount pharmacy to open in their area.
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Half the respondents rated their local pharmacy 6 out of 10 in terms of lacking affordability while 15 per cent rated their pharmacy as extremely expensive.
Two in three people in regional NSW have travelled to another town to visit a pharmacy, 44 per cent have travelled more than 50km to visit a pharmacy.
“Neither side of politics is interested in upsetting the status quo because the Pharmacy Guild is the most powerful lobby group in Australia and is a big financial contributor to both sides of politics,” Chemist Warehouse chief operating officer Mario Tascone said.
Amber Turner, who lives with her two grandsons in Cessnock, told the survey she buys medication for ADHD, ADD and dispatch disorder.
“I’m in my seventies caring for two grandchildren and I didn’t think I would have and any little saving I can make puts extra food on the table,” she said.
“Travelling to a discount pharmacy is not feasible for me with the two boys. They fight in the car …. And by the time I pay for petrol and an hours’ drive and an hour back, it’s not worth it,” she said.
A spokesperson the Pharmacy Guild spokesperson said: “the Location Rules have benefited Australian consumers for around 30 years, ensuring a well-distributed network to dispense PBS medicines”.
“Most PBS prescription medicines are dispensed to pensioners and concession cardholders where the price is within one dollar of the designated patient co-payment, wherever the medicine is dispensed including in rural and regional Australia.”