Common prescription medicines cheaper OTC in Australia

Australia’s Turnbull government says it will address inconsistencies in the nation’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) that see many concessional patients with a prescription for common medicines such as paracetamol and aspirin paying higher prices than if they simply purchased them over the counter.

Minister for Health Sussan Ley today confirmed the 17 types of common over-the-counter (OTC) medicines for issues such as headaches, heartburn and constipation that will no longer be subsidized as a prescription drug under the PBS from January 1, 2016. The decision follows advice and consultation by the independent Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee and is part of the government’s landmark PBS reforms, which passed the Senate earlier this year.

Ms Ley said the measure would particularly benefit concessional patients who were sometimes paying two-to-three times the retail price of common medicines when they bought them through a prescription rather than over the counter.

“There’s no doubting that many of these over-the-counter drugs such as paracetamol and aspirin can be a simple and easy treatment for various conditions,” Ms Ley said, adding: “These inconsistencies in the system have seen patients and taxpayers unnecessarily paying higher prices to fill prescriptions for medicines that can often be purchased cheaper straight off the shelf. For example, we currently have concession card holders right now paying A$6.10 for an A$2 pack of paracetamol if they buy it using a PBS-subsidised prescription, which also attracts a taxpayer subsidy on top.”

Costing around A$87 million

Ms Ley said while these 17 medicines made up only about 15% of OTC medicines subsidized under the PBS, between them they generated 8.7 million scripts costing A$87 million ($62 million) in 2014-15 – nearly 90% of the annual $100 million taxpayer spend on OTC medicines. As such, Ms Ley said the changes would also save taxpayers about half-a-billion dollars over the next five years, allowing greater investment in new medicines.

Ms Ley said the measure was part of a balanced package of PBS reform measures passed earlier this year that also included: changes that will see many generic drugs drop in price by as much as half; greater competition through the ability of pharmacies to discount the price of the patient co-payment for the first time; a doubling of investment in pharmacy primary care programs for patients to A$1.2 billion; and discounts in the price taxpayers pay for expensive medicines still protected by patents.