The Abbott Government’s commitment to hiking the price of medicines by $5 exposes its offer today of cheaper medicines as a lie.
The Minister today boasted that the move to allow chemists to discount the PBS co-payment by $1 was about making medicines “more affordable for consumers”
Yet, at the same time, this government is seeking to increase the price of these exact same medicines by $5 for general patients and $0.80 for concession card holders.
Only an Abbott Government Health Minister could seek to make medicines “more affordable for consumers” while raising the price $5 while asking chemists to cut their own income by $1 a script.
And with the discount unlikely to be taken up in many parts of Australia, the Abbott Government’s policy is for people in rural and regional areas to pay even higher prices.
If the Minister is serious about making medicines “more affordable for consumers” she must immediately scrap plans to hike the cost of the PBS co-payment which, unlike the fee charged by chemists, will not be voluntary.