The Albanese government and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia have this week signed the eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement , which will come into effect on July 1. The government has touted the agreement as enabling people to continue to receive cheaper medicines and world-class health care from their local pharmacies. There’s no question pharmacists are integral to delivering health care in the community.
They are responsible for ensuring prescriptions are filled accurately and in a timely fashion, and for providing advice and guidance to their customers about the medicines they dispense. But, once again, this agreement shows the power the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, which represents the owners of community pharmacies, wields in shaping policy and funding. The Community Pharmacy Agreement was started in 1990 and is renegotiated every five years.
This eighth agreement delivers A$26.5 billion in funding over five years, a $3 billion boost over the previous agreement. This represents about one-quarter of the total cost of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
Of the $26.5 billion, $22.5 billion is for the cost of dispensing prescriptions.
The funding also includes $2.1 billion for a new Additional Community Supply Support Payment to address the pharmacy guild’s concern about the financial impact of 60-day prescribing. There’s $1.
2 billion to cover pharmacy services, including continuation and expansion of medication management and medical review programs . This $1.2 b.
