Price war looms for medicines

IT SOUNDS like the deal of the century – half price prescription medicines – but there’s a sting in the tail.

The Pharmacy Guild has declared war on discount chemist chains like Chemist Warehouse with a campaign to get the government to slash the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme’s (PBS) $41.30 general patient charge to $19.

The problem is taxpayers will have to pick up the $1.53bn bill even though they can already buy their medicines half price at discounting pharmacies – and some consumers could end up paying more for their meds.

The price of cholesterollowering statins, antibiotics, diabetes medicine metformin and antidepressant efexor would more than double in price at discount chemists if customers want them to count towards their PBS Safety Net under the Pharmacy Guild plan, Chemist Warehouse said.

But under the Pharmacy Guild plan chemists who discounted medicines that cost more than the new $19 patient charge would have to dispense them as private scripts and they would not count towards the safety net – making the reduction to $6.60 impossible.

Pharmacy Guild of Australia National president Trent Twomey said he was calling for the price cut because Australian Bureau of Statistics surveys show one in eight people can’t afford to have their scripts filled and Australia has one of the highest patient charges in the world.

A spokesman for Health Minister Greg Hunt said more than 91 per cent of PBS medicines were dispensed to concession card holders where PBS subsidised scripts were no more than $6.60.