The cost of the PBS is projected to grow significantly despite the success of reforms to the scheme introduced almost three years ago, the Federal Government has revealed.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon yesterday tabled a report into the impact of PBS reforms to Parliament which predicted that the cost of the scheme would grow by 10.6 per cent in 2009-10 and reach $13 billion in 2018.
"Based on independent modelling by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the report finds that, while the PBS reforms will provide more savings than originally estimated, these will be more than outweighed by higher growth in PBS costs," Ms Roxon said.
Ms Roxon said the Government and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia had negotiated $1 billion worth of savings under the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement to improve the sustainability of the PBS.
"The Government will continue to examine the PBS closely to ensure that taxpayers get value for money from all parts of the system," she said.
Guild national president Kos Sclavos said the reforms would have implications on pharmacy owners into the future.
"On top of the $1 billion hit to remuneration in the agreement, the PBS reforms will require major adjustments from community pharmacy businesses to ensure their ongoing viability," he said.
According to the Guild, much of the growth in PBS cost will be from new drugs added to the scheme, many of which are specialised and not sold in the majority of pharmacies.
However, Ms Roxon said the report found many drugs subsidised by the PBS to be more expensive in Australia than other countries.
"For example, the common cholesterol drug simvastatin (40mg tablets) costs $44.45 for the PBS, but only $2.74 under the National Health Service in the UK," she said.
"The blood pressure drug atenolol costs $10.27 for the PBS, but only $1.82 in the UK. This underlines the need for the Government to examine PBS prices very closely."