Healthcare in Australia: Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Analysis

This essay provides an overview of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) in Australia, a crucial component of the country's healthcare system. The essay explains the PBS's primary function: to ensure affordable access to prescription medications for Australian residents and eligible visitors. It delves into the PBS's operational framework, including its governance under the National Health Act and Regulations, and its integration with other healthcare elements like Medicare and Primary Health Networks (PHN). The essay also explores the PBS's financial aspects, such as the Therapeutic Group Premiums (TGPs) and the pricing mechanisms involving suppliers, the government, and pharmacists. Furthermore, the essay highlights the PBS's significance in meeting the medication needs of Australians while striving for both financial efficiency and optimal health outcomes. The paper references relevant sources like the Department of Health and other academic publications to support its arguments and findings.

Running head: HEALTHCARE
Professional nursing concepts in Australia
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction- Health and social care in Australia is funded and operated by the state
and government territory government, in addition to not-for-profit and private sector
organisations. This essay will elaborate on the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS), and its
link to other components of the healthcare system.
Discussion- The PBS refers to a healthcare component of the Australian Government,
the primary aim of which is to create provisions for funded prescription medications to
inhabitants of Australia, in addition to particular foreign invitees who are concealed by the
presence of a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement (Mellish et al., 2015). It is a core duty of the
PBS to guarantee that the Australian inhabitants have adequate access to inexpensive and
consistent access to a plethora of essential medicines. In recent years, the PBS has been
subjected to an augmented scrutiny, with an increase in healthcare costs. Results from reports
suggest that the PBS undertakes accountability for the price of medications to patients in the
public setting, rather than during their stay in hospitals, which has been identified as the core
duty of each territory and state (Paige et al., 2015). Along with the Medicare, the PBS
therefore acts as a central component of health and social care in Australia. Furthermore, the
PBS is under the control of the National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Regulations 1960
and the National Health Act 1953. The associated pharmaceutical benefits might be supplied
by medical practitioners and pharmacists who are accepted under the Act, and the
applications for enlisting a medication under PBS are managed by the Department of Health
(Department of Health, 2019).
Furthermore, PBS enlisting is not possible before the drug is listed on the Australian
Register of Therapeutic Goods for the pertinent indication. It can be considered as an
essential component of the Primary Health Networks (PHN) since the latter focuses on
improving patient care, while making it more effective and efficient (Department of Health,
2019). The Therapeutic Group Premiums (TGPs) had also been introduced in order to restrict

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the cost of PBS on drugs that are priced suggestively above the inexpensive medication.
Furthermore, the price of a medicine is exchanged between the supplier and the government,
via the Department of Health, and the dispensed cost includes the pharmacist's mark-up,
wholesaler's mark up, and a supply remuneration (Gericke & O'Brien, 2019).
Conclusion- To conclude, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) by the Australian
government provides dependable, judicious and reasonable access to several drugs for all
Australians, and its primary objective is to meet the medication and associated service
necessities, such that both financial objectives and optimal health outcomes are
accomplished.

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References
Department of Health. (2018). TGA and PBAC Parallel Process and Requirements. Retrieved
from http://www.pbs.gov.au/info/publication/factsheets/shared/tga-pbac-parallel-
process
Department of Health. (2019). About the PBS. Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.gov.au/info/about-the-pbs
Gericke, C. A., & O'Brien, T. J. (2019). Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme restrictions on anti‐
epileptic drug prescribing promote unsafe and outdated practice. The Medical Journal
of Australia, 211(2), n-a.
Mellish, L., Karanges, E. A., Litchfield, M. J., Schaffer, A. L., Blanch, B., Daniels, B. J., ... &
Pearson, S. A. (2015). The Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme data
collection: a practical guide for researchers. BMC research notes, 8(1), 634.
Paige, E., Kemp-Casey, A., Korda, R., & Banks, E. (2015). Using Australian Pharmaceutical
Benefits Scheme data for pharmacoepidemiological research: challenges and
approaches.