Medicine price should be going down, not up

Pharmacy Guild of Australia

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia has stepped up its call for the cost of medicines to go down instead of up on the eve of price rises due to inflation.

This New Year, the maximum co-payment for PBS listed medicines has risen by $1.60 to $31.60 for general patients and up by 40 cents to $7.70 for concessional card holders.

The Pharmacy Guild’s National President, Professor Trent Twomey says this is in stark contrast to twelve months ago, when prices came down $12.50 on the back of the Guild’s ‘Affordable Medicines Now’ campaign.

“Instead of the Commonwealth Government putting the price of medicines up on the 1st of January, they should be doing in fact the complete opposite and easing the cost-of-living burden on Australians,” Professor Twomey said.

The Pharmacy Guild is currently campaigning to reduce the maximum co-payment for PBS medicines from $31.60 to $19.

“Australia has the third highest out-of-pocket expenses for essential medicines in the developed world.

“We have been calling on this government to reduce the out-of-pocket expenses when it comes to essential healthcare,” said Professor Twomey.

Recently released figures show many Australians are deferring their medicines because of financial strain due to rising costs of living.

“The Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that 1.1 million Australians are delaying, deferring or going without their essential medicines on a weekly and monthly basis.”