Most of the medicine subsidies the government claims are not new and cost them nothing

Health Minister Greg Hunt has made political capital out of subsidising new medicines on the PBS but of the 2,200 drugs he claims to have supported only 227 are new.

The Morrison Government’s claims it has listed over 2200 new medicines on the nation’s medicine subsidy scheme have been debunked by the Department of Health.

In fact just 227 new medicines, have been listed since the Coalition came to power in 2013 Senate Estimates has been told.

Unlike his predecessors, Health Minister Greg Hunt has milked PBS listings for positive publicity and has repeatedly credited his government’s economic management as the reason it has been able to subsidise 2200 new medicines on the PBS.

But that figure has been exposed as an exaggeration by the Department of Health which revealed it is composed mainly of amended listings of drugs already subsidised on the PBS.

This includes adding a new strength of a drug, listing an existing medicine as part of a combination drug or changing it from second to first line of therapy.

Minister for Health Greg Hunt has made political capital out of the PBS. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

In total, 1354 of the subsidy listings Mr Hunt claims were at no financial cost to the government, the department said.

Of the listings, 316 involved merely a price change to an existing subsidised medicine, the officials said.

Officials explained that a new listing will give new access to patients that wouldn’t have had access to the medicines previously.

“Any drug that may have previously been available for breast cancer and may now be available for those with melanoma,” the Senate was told.

An independent advisory committee decides which medicines should be subsidised and health Minister Greg Hunt only has a role in getting Cabinet approval if the medicines will cost the system more than $20 million.

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Only 27 of the 227 new medicines listed were in that category, the department said.

News Corp revealed earlier this week a secret list of medicines approved for government subsidy that have never made it on to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

This list undermines government assurances it subsidises every new medicine recommended by the independent Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee.

Mr Hunt has repeatedly promised “if the medical experts, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory recommends the listing of a medicine — we will list that medicine”.

A $48,000 prostate cancer drug that could help thousands of men and extend their life by more than 30 per cent is just one of a dozen medicines approved for reimbursement that have never made it on to the nation’s medicine subsidy scheme.

Our investigation has found many medicines are never subsidised because the pharmaceutical companies that make the drugs have failed to reach an agreement with the Department of Health on how much they will be paid for the medicine.

Opposition Health spokesman Chris Bowen accused the government of engaging in “spin” and of being “loose with the truth” on the PBS.

“In new revelations last night, the Department of Health confirmed that this Government is adding new medicines to the PBS at a rate ten times less than the Minister tries to spin,” he said.

Just 227 new medicines have been listed on the PBS since the Coalition came to power in 2013, despite claims it has added more than 2000.

Health Minister Greg Hunt has accused the Opposition of trivialising decisions to amend to subsidies for medications already subsidised on the PBS when it derides the government’s performance.

These amendments make up the bulk of the 2,222 new and amended listings new claims his government has made to the PBS since coming to office in 2013.

“An amended PBS listing may expand access to more patients with a particular illness, or provide access to currently listed medicines, for a new group of patients with a different condition,” he said.

“For example, Orkambi was first listed on the PBS on 1 October 2018, for people with cystic fibrosis over the age of six. The Minister recently announced its availability will be immediately expanded to children between the ages of two to five, which is life-changing for those patients who will now get access earlier,” he said.

The medicine Keytruda was first listed for patients with melanoma, but has since been made available for patients with Hodgkin lymphoma, lung cancer and bladder cancer.

“Labor’s attempts to trivialise a new PBS listing, which provides an existing PBS listed medicine to patients who would have previously had no access, is a shameful attempt to distract from their policy in 2011,” he said.

Originally published as Most of the medicine subsidies the government claims are not new and cost them nothing