The government will provide an additional AU$60 for each chemotherapy infusion for a six-month trial period, as a way of ensuring cancer patients have continued access to quality, affordable treatment.

The funding (an extra AU$29.7 million) will cover the period between 1 July 2013 and 31 December 2013, and be provided in addition to current fees of AU$76.37. The interim funding is being provided in order to give the government time to carry out a review into funding for chemotherapy drugs.

Minister for Health Tanya Plibersek said that the Australian Government ‘wants to ensure cancer patients don’t experience any interruption in their treatment while we closely examine how much we should be paying to support the ongoing viability for chemotherapy providers.’

Ms Plibersek said the review followed talks between the government and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia over appropriate subsidies for dispensing chemotherapy after the reduction in price the government pays for a key chemotherapy drug, docetaxel. This reduction came about when the Australian Government’s price disclosure policy led to significant reductions in Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) payments for chemotherapy drugs to bring them into line with the true market price paid by pharmacies [1]. In the case of docetaxel, inflated prices had meant the government was in some instances paying AU$2,800 above the market price.

The latest measure acknowledges the costs entailed in the safe supply of chemotherapy treatments, which some chemotherapy providers had been cross-subsidising by using the inflated price of the drug itself to cover the cost of delivering it. However, after the price reduction, when generics entered the market, some providers complained they would not be able to keep treating cancer patients without additional funding.

Ms Plibersek said that ‘the government wants to … ensure that cross-subsidisation is not required to support the viability of chemotherapy services’.

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia welcomed the announcement, which it said would allow time for ‘a thorough review of the funding of chemotherapy services in the interests of patient certainty about their availability in the long term.’

Patient advocacy group the Consumers Health Forum also welcomed the announcement, saying that the review ‘will shine a light on both the actual costs involved in the provision of chemotherapy drugs as well as how some providers may have been using the payments from government to cross subsidise other services.’

The subsidy paid to pharmacists to dispense standard medication is AU$6.52, however, the complexity of preparing chemotherapy medication means the dispensing subsidy was already greater.

Related article

Australia’s biggest-ever generics price cuts coming in April 2012

Reference

1.  GaBI Online - Generics and Biosimilars Initiative. Australia cuts prices of 13 more drugs on PBS [www.gabionline.net]. Mol, Belgium: Pro Pharma Communications International; [cited 2013 May 17]. Available from: www.gabionline.net/Policies-Legislation/Australia-cuts-prices-of-13-more-drugs-on-PBS

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