Australian Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme. Answer: Introduction The Idea of developing PBS in Australia began in1944though it was rejected by the court. It began its main operations in1948. It was restricted to offering free medication to the pensioners and around one hundred and thirty-nine vaccines as well as lifesaving medicines to the entire public. It became very strong when it was first established under the law in1953 under the national health act and it is one of the major aspects of the national medicine policy. In 1960 PBS was made an all-encompassing scheme allowing access to a good range of different medicines in Australia. By 2014 the pharmaceutical benefits scheme had registered and subsidized more than two hundred and eleven million prescriptions. The medicines are approximated to have cost the government of Australia more than nine billion dollars. This amount is about twenty-one percent of the total health expenditure. Van Boeckel, et al 2014). The advisory committee of the pharmaceutical benefits scheme is obligated to assess all the medication and then recommend which should be listed by the PBS and which should not. The committee was set up by the government but not part of the PBS. The committee also recommends which drugs should be withdrawn from the PBS list in case there are any safety concerns. (Gleeson, et al 2015). The medication must be listed with the Australian therapeutic good register before they are accepted for listing in the pharmaceutical benefits scheme. The medication companies must apply for the listing of the drugs with the therapeutic goods administration. Clinical trials evidence is a requirement and must, therefore, be provided in order to ensure the health safety of the patient who may use the drugs. The medication must attain the set quality standards and must be cost-effective compared to all other types of medicine offered in the market. (Walkom, et al 2013). According to the national health act, the pharmacist must be approved to dispense medicine from particular pharmacies. The government pays a portion of the cost to the pharmacist and the patient are charged the remaining amount. Under the PBS, the amount of money that a patient is supposed to pay towards the medication cost of the pharmacies are set to protect the public. In 2015 a maximum of 37.70 dollars was paid by the pensioners, while the cohesion patients paid an average of 6.10dollars per prescription. (Schaffer, et al 2015). According to the national health act, the pharmacist must be approved to dispense medicine from particular pharmacies. The government pays a portion of the cost to the pharmacist and the patient are charged the remaining amount. Under the PBS, the amount of money that a patient is supposed to pay towards the medication cost of the pharmacies are set to protect the public. In 2015 a maximum of 37.70 dollars was paid by the pensioners, while the cohesion pa tients paid an average of 6.10dollars per prescription. (Schaffer, et al 2015). Consumption rates for medicine Australia is ranked as one of the greatest consumer of medicine though it has one of the biggest life expectancies the country has some challenges of diseases like cancer, coronary heart diseases, stroke, diabetes, kidney diseases, respiratory diseases dementia, incontinence and so many others that are among the leading causes of deaths in Australia. A report of 2014 from the NHS revealed that around 1,2 million people were diagnosed with diabetes, an average of 11 million cases of chronic conditions such as cancer, arthritis, and asthma were reported in the same year 11 million cases of obesity were also noted among the people aged 188 and above. This is about 63%of the adult population in the country. This kind of statistics has forced the government to invest a lot in medication making them be among the biggest users of medication. The Australian government has also set up a safety net scheme to ensure that the citizens who may be having high medications needs are well protected. In 2015 if a patient or the close family had spent around 1453.90 dollars on the PBS prescription, the remaining part of the year cost the 6.10 per prescription. After the pensioners and other cohesion patients who own a card reached the net threshold of 366 dollars expenditure index. (Karanges, et al 2016) A national medication policy was set by the government of Australia to put formulate a good framework of improving the health standards in the country.it improves the outcomes of health by ensuring that the Australians access and use the right medication for the various health-related problems. The main aim of the policy is to meet needs of health care services and medication as well as the economic objectives. (Mellish, et al 2015). Cost of medicine consumption The government of Australia together with the territory and state government to share the responsibilities and roles in the healthcare system. The public health centre is controlled and funded by the Australian government. There are also private sectors owned by private sectors but are licensed and controlled by the government health laws. The health cost in Australia in 2013- 2014 Australian health budget was approximate to be $155 billion, which is equivalent to 9.8% of gross domestic income product. This was compared with the previous year's budget of $150 billion. Among the $155 billion health budget, $59 million was spent on the hospital in Australia. This health expenditure in the Australian healthcare system on hospitals was constant for over the previous 10 years at about 40% (Dobbin, 2014). The cost of pharmaceutical via the pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS) included the primary healthcare group which was $10.1 billion in the 2013- 2014 health budget. The Australian government contributed $105 billion which was equivalent to 68% of the total expenditure in the year 2013- 2014 health budget. This shows that the Australian government contributes a large amount of fund in the medical services. The state and territory government of Australia provides most of the funds in the community health services, which is estimated to be $6.2 billion. The total expenditure contributed by non- government sectors in 2013- 2014 was approximately $billion which was nearly 18% of the health budget. Most the funds for non- subsidized medicines for example medication offered over the counter, under co-payment medicines and private prescription came from individuals which were about $ 9.0 billion in the year 2015 the rate of healthcare expenditure increased by 1.75% according to the report from the department of health. (Lai, et al 2013). The significant increase rate was as a result of the introduction of new generic medicines which influenced the negotiable prices of the pharmaceutical drugs through the listing of the generic medicines in (PBS) and also availing them to the market. The decrease in the health cost did not reflect inadequate services as the number of subsidized drugs distributed during this period had risen from 2008 million in 2012 to 223 million in 2013. The changes that occurred in the private health sector insurance rebated the share of funds that was were provided by Australian government through reduction scheme. These changes lead to the increased proportion of cost from private health insurers from 7.4% in 2012 to 8.3% 1n 2013. (Blanch, et al 2014). There is private health insurance available for individuals who wish to cover the cost of hospital admission bills as the private patient or for covering other subordinate health services. In 2015, 11.3 million Australian people which were 47% of the total population had been insured with private patient hospital cover and around 13.4 million that is 56% had applied for general treatment cover. Through Medicare system, the Australian government covered a portion of hospital admission bills for the private patient. (Stephenson, et al2013). The government intervention strategies within the healthcare system of Australia in both public and the private patient is the main reason for the standardization of the medical cost in Australia. In addition, the Australian government together with the state and territory government roles in the healthcare system has contributed to the ease of healthcare in Australian people. The overall health sector in Australian which is collectively called the Health Council is responsible for providing a forum of health services through cooperation and regulation on primary and secondary healthcare issues and in considering the increase in cost pressure. The drug utilization in Australia can be used to monitor the impact of pharmacy economy. Golley, et al 2015). Types of medicine consumed Both prescription and non- prescription forms of medication are common in Australian healthcare system. The prescribed forms of medication require medical or doctor's instructions and advice. These prescribed forms of medication include pain relievers, heart problems and blood pressure medication. On the other hand, the non- prescribed do not need proceedings from medical professional prescription or advice, they include vitamins, minerals and herbal medication. These types of medication do elude government rebate. The drug prescription is dispensed under government subsidization schemes or as private prescription these schemes include; Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS) and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). When a new medicine is discovered in Australia, it must then get approved for market distribution by the company according to the rules of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989. The company then had the drug included on the PBS. The table A below shows examples of me dicine that have been commonly used in Australia in 2015 and over the previous years. These drugs included the subsidized prescription count of the top 10 drugs distributed in the Australian community. (Cooter, Pickstone, 2013). Table A. the top 10 drugs by prescription counts, 2015. Drug PBS/RPBS Under co-payment Total ATORVASTATIN 7,634,687 2,922,825 10,557,512 ROSUVASTATIN 6,667,654 2,764,678 9,432,332 ESOMEPRAZOLE 7,184,175 1,684.090 9,868,265 PARACETAMOL 7,003,988 361,643 7,365,631 PANTOPRAZOLE 4,618,171 1,738,738 6,365,909 PERINDOPRIL 4,005,504 2,114,337 6,119,841 AMOXCILLIN 2,377,339 3,487,319 5,864,658 CEFALEXIN METFORMIN 2,851,477 2,753,113 5,604,590 HYDROCHLORIDE AMOXYCLLIN 3,570,613 1,585,270 5,155,883 CLAVULANIC ACID 2,256,829 2,810,399 5,067,228 The data extracted from medicine Australia website. Conclusion There is a need for reset and implementation of new laws and strategies within the healthcare system in Australia to ensure in the regulation of cost, products and services. These health strategies and laws will help in solving some of the few challenges faced by the manufactures, marketing and distributing organizations in the healthcare system. One of the challenges faced by the PBS is that some of their products are restricted and require preauthorization over medical registration. PBS experiences problems in the fields of price renegotiations. It has weakness in terms of efficiency in the post-market surveillance. Challenges arise when there are weaknesses in incentives in the manufacturer's line of pricing agreement this may result in the production of poor quality medicines. The patient's co-payment also brings a negative impact on equity and efficiency of PBS. Lack of standardized cost-effectiveness according to the government regulation policy on PBS. The studies that are spo nsored by some pharmaceutical producers may give report result that favours their sponsors more than research supported by the other sources. The introduction of new generic medicines to the market also becomes a challenge among the manufactures as it alters price levels. References Blanch, B., Pearson, S. A., Haber, P. S. (2014). 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