60-Day Dispensing Policy

The Government announced a number of initiatives in the Federal Budget. These included improvements to Medicare, changes to bulk billing, aged care and pharmacy amongst others. The public, including doctors, aged care facility owners and workers, and pharmacists would be the first to support changes that improve Australia’s healthcare system that provide better access to patients and make healthcare more affordable. 

The introduction of 60-day dispensing is one of these measures.  The Government continues to focus the public attention on the “savings to 6 million Australians”.  However there has been a huge outcry from the pharmacy industry because they believe, and rightly so in our view, that they are paying for these savings, without warning and with “little time to source other income”, in the words of the Department of Health and Aged care.

The manner in which these changes are being implemented is troubling. Of concern also is what appears to be a lack of acknowledgement from Government that this measure will literally destroy some pharmacy businesses and take over $3.0bn (and not just $1.2bn which are the savings or “efficiencies” to Government) out of pharmacy profits over four years, removing over 50% of profit from pharmacies.   
 

The pharmacy profession is aggrieved.  Through the bushfires of 2019, 2 years of floods up and down the country, and then right through the Covid pandemic, the industry says they were on the front line, beside their health colleagues, giving it all for Australia.  And they were. They are very upset about a lack of communication, a lack of understanding of the impact of its own policy by individual Government ministers, and a lack of collaboration in implementing these changes.  
 

Our observation is that most commentators do not understand the fine print of this policy. Keep reading, as we unpack the policy and provide the detail.  And as the saying goes, it’s there where it can become somewhat devilish.