The coalition coincides with workers’ offers to reduce PBS health care costs, and Mark Butler will see the changes from January 1st.
Labour has pledged to keep the costs of the drug down to $25 per script starting next January under the revised Drug Benefits System (PBS) plan.
Currently, the maximum cost for PBS drugs is $31.60. Taxpayer-supported schemes subsidize the cost of essential medicines for all Australians.
The Union tried to remove the air from its election promises by issuing a media release that would match the offer if the federal opposition party wins.
“With cheaper drugs, more free GP visits, more powerful Medicare, we tell Australians. We have your back,” he told ABC Radio Melbourne.
Health Minister Mark Butler said it is not impossible for PBS to be introduced earlier than January 1st.
“We need software arrangements and so on. What’s important is that we offer cheap drugs this year. We’ve frozen the prices of the drugs this year,” he told ABC.
The Australian Health Minister and Elderly Care Mark Butler will address the media at the Capitol Building in Canberra, Australia on March 30, 2023. Martin Olman/Getty Images
The annual budget costs $690 million
Estimates suggest that the policy will cost the federal budget $690 million a year.
However, Albanese refused to identify how workers will fund the additional costs, but Minister Butler confirmed that Treasurer Jim Chalmers will formally release details of his March 25 budget speech.
Butler added that the proposal is based on workers’ 2023 policy to reduce PBS co-payments from $42.50 to $30.
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Pension recipients will continue to pay $7.70 per script until at least 2030, following a five-year price freeze introduced in last year’s budget.
Labour has also introduced 60-day scripts of over 320 common medicines. This allows Australians to purchase 60 days of medication from one prescription, not the last 30 days. The idea is to reduce the cost of patients having to make two visits to a doctor or pharmacy.
The move initially faced backlash from pharmacists, but was later offset by a $3 billion support package.
Union matches the offer
Meanwhile, the coalition of opposition leader Peter Dutton has pledged to lower PBS co-payments to $25, consistent with the Labour pledge, ensuring continued support for affordable medicines.
Health spokesman Anne Ruston said: “We have issued a statement ensuring Australians have more affordable access to the medications and treatments they need.
Opposition parties have strongly criticized workers’ handling of the living crisis, claiming that financial tensions have forced Australians to determine difficult health.
“Eight per cent of Australians have been delayed or without prescription drugs due to the crisis in the lives of workers, so frankly, what they’re doing today is just making up for the damage they’ve inflicted on Australian families and families,” Shadow Home Minister James Patterson told Sky News.
opposition health spokesman Anne Ruston at a parliamentary home in Canberra, Australia on March 24, 2020. Sam Mooy/Getty Images
US pharmaceuticals target PB amid tariff concerns
The announcement comes as the United States prepares new tariffs scheduled to be announced by the Trump administration on April 2.
The US drug company has urged President Trump to take action against Australia’s PBS, labeling it as a “severely discriminatory” economic barrier to lowering US drug prices.
In response, Butler defended PBS, emphasizing that Australia would not be shaken by US lobbying.
“They call it bad at Big Pharma in the US. I call it one of the sparkling gems of one of the best healthcare systems in the world. We don’t want to follow the path of an American-style user pay system. Of course, they want to sell medicines at the top dollar, but our interest is inexpensive medicines.
He reiterated that Australia resisted similar pressures 20 years ago during negotiations on a US free trade agreement.
“They pushed the Howard government at the time, and Labour decided to put clear protections for our PBS into Congress,” Butler said.
“Howard didn’t support them at the time. He was more supportive of the US pharmaceutical industry than Australian patients. But we got it through Congress. We can protect PBS with determination.”
The Union has also committed to protecting PBS from potential US tariffs.
Ruston said he is deeply concerned about the potential new tariffs and will test Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s leadership.
“He must travel to the US as an urgent issue for a face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump to ensure that Australian businesses are not affected negatively,” she said in a statement.
“If we don’t, there’s another indication that the leadership from the Prime Minister is weak.”
