The real issue is time to access and health technology assessment, says Medicines Australia.
As the US administration continues to roll out more and more tariffs, there have been growing concerns over whether it could affect Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
However, many Australian medicine regulators have downplayed any immediate impact to the PBS, saying the scheme will remain as a cornerstone of Australia’s healthcare system.
The only potential changes to the PBS would be reforms to its processes, says Medicines Australia, which reports that no tariffs have been placed on Australian pharmaceutical exports so far.
“Medicines Australia and our members support free, fair and open trade.” said Liz de Somer, CEO of Medicines Australia.
“We called for no tariffs and US-based pharmaceutical companies called for no tariffs.
“Australia is a responsible trading partner and the industry here and in the United States will continue to advocate for free trade.”
Ms de Somer told TMR that the threat of tariffs right now was purely speculative compared to the real issue of a need for reform.
“Though medicines prices in Australia are part of contracts with the Commonwealth government, the Commonwealth is the only purchaser of medicines that are made available to patients for the PBS,” she said.
“So for patients, they will only pay the co-pay for all their PBS medicines regardless.”
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Much like the calls for Medicare reform, the calls for PBS reform are based in suggestions to update the scheme to better match the current healthcare landscape.
“Science and medicines have evolved significantly in the 30 years where no meaningful reform has occurred,” said Ms de Somer.
“The system is no longer fit for purpose and patients are waiting too long [for drug approval] – on average 466 days when elsewhere in the world the wait may be as low as 60 days.”
A review of Australia’s health technology assessment system, released in September 2024, highlighted room for improvement, since the last review was 30 years ago.
Now amid an election campaign, both sides of parliament have stated their support for boosting the HTA system.
“Those HTA processes haven’t had any meaningful reform for 30 years since they were introduced,” said Ms de Somer.
“There is a very strong multi-stakeholder report sitting on the health minister’s desk with 50 recommendations about how to improve HTA, to improve time to access for patients.”
