this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2023
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Coalition will seek to block Labor plan for cheaper medicine after backlash from pharmacies (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by trk@aussie.zone to c/australia@aussie.zone
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Seems like the tl;dr is that profits of pharmacies is the highest priority.

Under the changes to take effect from 1 September, about 6 million Australians will be able to collect two-for-one scripts for 320 common medicines, leading to savings of up to $180 a year for each medicine.

The move will save patients more than $1.6bn over the next four years, but is estimated to cost pharmacies $1.2bn due to less frequent dispensing fees.

The Pharmacy Guild has lobbied intensely against the policy, seeking compensation from the government and warning of staff cuts and fee increases for services such as packing Webster packs for elderly patients.

In in-store campaign material, pharmacists have claimed the policy has contributed to medicine shortages and urged patients to blame the prime minister, Anthony Albanese.

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[–] landsharkkidd@aussie.zone 22 points 1 year ago (3 children)

This shit just pissed me off.

It's really hard for me to go to the pharmacy due to chronic pain and just getting there in general. So being able to dispense two at a time would be helpful as.

Liberals are absolute scum.

[–] supercheesecake@aussie.zone 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

And what a lot of people don’t appreciate is that often it’s not just one drug. When you’ve got serious medical shit going down you might be on many drugs. That’s many scripts and something running out every week or two it feels. So this really helps.

[–] spudsrus@aussie.zone 4 points 1 year ago

I'm all for it but wish that more drugs were on it. Some of my meds are there but some aren't. So it'll still be monthly visits to the pharmacy for those things.

Oh well, baby steps

[–] landsharkkidd@aussie.zone 3 points 1 year ago

Yep. I take about four different types of medication, and while they're cheap because of my concession card, it still stacks up, and I have to remind doctors for repeats, because I also just hate going to the doctors to get script refills.

[–] Nonameuser678@aussie.zone 6 points 1 year ago

This policy would genuinely improve my life and reduce barriers to accessing essential medications. That's what good government policy is supposed to do.

[–] legios@aussie.zone 2 points 1 year ago

I've actually been able to do this occasionally in the past. I tend to be very drug-tolerant (and it sucks) and for a couple of my meds my GP called up medicare and the prescription was modified so I could do this.

I wonder if this is a simplification of that process?