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The Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Assignment

   

Added on  2020-04-21

18 Pages2759 Words106 Views
Running head: AUSTRALIAN PHARMACEUTICAL BENEFITS SCHEME1The Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and the consumption of medicines inAustraliaNameInstitutionTable of ContentsExecutive summary....................................................................................................................3

AUSTRALIAN PHARMACEUTICAL BENEFITS SCHEME2Introduction................................................................................................................................4Discussion..................................................................................................................................6Decision Makers in the Structure of Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme..............6The Costs of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme................................................................8Costs of Medicine Consumption in Australia........................................................................9Types of Medicines Consumed............................................................................................10Problems with the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme...........................................................12Recommendations....................................................................................................................12References................................................................................................................................14

AUSTRALIAN PHARMACEUTICAL BENEFITS SCHEME3Executive summaryThe Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme was introduced with the aim of reducing medical costs incurred through pharmaceutical costs. However, through the years, the scheme has evidenced an exponential growth in expenditure, making it less cost-effective compared to similar schemes in other countries. Australia reports over a 5% increase expenditure each year, translating to over 20% of the health sector’s department. Drugs commonly used such as atorvastatin cost up to 50% more compared to New Zealand. Maybe it’s time for revising the scheme and introduction of new measures such as revising of international benchmarks and introducing an oversight authority over PBS.

AUSTRALIAN PHARMACEUTICAL BENEFITS SCHEME4IntroductionThe Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is a program through which the Australian government subsidises prescription drugs to Australians. The introduction of the scheme can be traced back to 1944 but in which it had failed to sail through. The successful reintroduction was attained in 1948 with a limit to offering free drugs for pensioners, while the rest of Australians were eligible to a total of 139 free drugs which were considered as “life-saving and disease preventing” [ CITATION Ale161 \l 1033 ]. It wasn’t until 1960 that the program attained maturity and was then able to provide access to a wide range of drugs. PBS stands out as an integral part of Australia’s National Medicines Policy (NMP) whose aim is to foster favourable health outcomes for Australians by improving accessibility to, and the rational use of drugs [ CITATION Dep14 \l 1033 ]. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is founded by provisions of the National Health Act 1953 [ CITATION Ale161 \l 1033 ]. The 2014/15 annual report by the Department of Health (DoH) put the cost of PBS at $9.1 billion following over two hundred million prescriptions having been subsidised during the same duration [ CITATION DoH15 \l 1033 ]. This PBS cost accounted for 21% of the funds that were administered by the department of health during the same duration [ CITATION Ale161 \l 1033 ]. The expenditure on the scheme is uncapped and as a result, it increases in relation to increase in demand and the introduction of new drugs. Between 2005/6 and 2013/14, the total expenditure on the scheme grew at about 4.9%, which however was not thecase for the duration between 2013/14 and 2014/15, in which the expenditure fell slightly by 0.5% [ CITATION Ale161 \l 1033 ]. Regardless of the marginal decrease, analysis of the projected government spending on pharmaceutical shows a gradual increase. Evidenced by the fact that the expenditure has more than doubled in the last ten years, the same is projectedto continue, making this expenditure one of the fastest growing areas of Australian

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