AMA President interviewed on Checklist for Cheaper Medicines on ABC Radio New England

CAITLIN FURLONG: Well, how much are you paying for your medications at the moment? Are they high on your list of household priorities? I'd be interested to know. You can send me a text on 0467-922-684. The Australian Medical Association says it's hearing reports the rising cost of living is forcing some people to forgo their medications just to put food on the table. They're asking the Federal Government to take immediate action and have put together a checklist of ways to cut medication costs. AMA President, Professor Steve Robson, is here to talk more about it now. Good morning.

STEVE ROBSON: Good morning, Caitlin.

CAITLIN FURLONG: What are you hearing about the cost of living and medicines at the moment?

STEVE ROBSON: Look, what we're hearing is exactly what was discussed by the Productivity Commission in a report earlier this year that many Australians now have cost of living pressures such that they are forgoing regular medications, exactly as you say, just to keep some food on the table for the family. And we think that's a terrible situation in Australia. So we've come up with some fairly simple things that ought to relieve that cost of living pressure from buying medications around the country.

CAITLIN FURLONG: So how widespread is this issue, do you think?

STEVE ROBSON: Well, it depends on different areas of the country. The Productivity Commission said that it’s actually quite a significant proportion and an increasing proportion of Australians who are facing these pressures. So it's important for lots and lots. And I think it's often the most vulnerable people who have more health problems, who are on regular medications. It's not uncommon to see people who are on medication for cholesterol, blood pressure, for diabetes. They have perhaps anti-anxiety medications, thyroid, all sorts of things that the one person is on. And that's an enormous burden of cost every month for people.

CAITLIN FURLONG: Yeah, I know that firsthand because I'm one of those people.

                                                                   [Laughter]

CAITLIN FURLONG: And it's true. It's a big chunk of my monthly budget going to the pharmacy and spending the money, but at the same time, what price can you put on your health? And it's, you know, I can understand why some people might be saying, “Oh well, I might skip a meal so I can, you know, afford my pills this week”.

STEVE ROBSON: So, look, we think there are some fairly simple steps the Government can take to turn this around for lots of Australians. And the first thing is incredibly simple. It's saying instead of having to go every month and pay a dispensing fee to get your medication, let's allow pharmacists to dispense two months’ worth of medication on the one script. So that not only halves the dispensing fee every month in real terms, it can save people up to $180 a year on each medication and also cuts down the number of times you have to go and see a GP to get a repeat prescription. That's a simple thing that could be changed tomorrow, and we think that would make a huge difference for lots of people. So that's the first thing on our checklist.

CAITLIN FURLONG: I think that's actually a great idea. And yeah,  just the burden of getting to the pharmacy as well is something- especially for people with mobility issues - I think would help, too.

STEVE ROBSON: You have hit the nail on the head. The second thing is that, believe it or not, and I found this incredible, by law, the maximum discount on a dispensing fee a pharmacist can give is $1. Now, that is extraordinary. And it did my head in for a while. So we think lots of pharmacists around the country would love to give their regular customers bigger discounts. But at the moment, they're breaking the law if they do it. So we think this has got to change immediately. So all of the pharmacists who want to do the right thing by their regular clients have the opportunity to discount those fees as much as they want. And that would be another huge cost saving measure for lots and lots of people who are at their pharmacist all the time.

CAITLIN FURLONG: Yeah, that's really interesting. What else is on your checklist?

STEVE ROBSON: So the third thing is saying that we know competition increases the cost of items. So at the moment, again, regulated, there is extraordinary rules on who can own a pharmacy and where that pharmacy can be located. That really doesn't apply to virtually anything else in the country. So we think rules like that would really open up competition. And we know there are lots of players in the wings looking for these regulations to change so they can be more accessible, exactly as you said, for lots of Australians with mobility issues and difficulties travelling around. Having more convenient pharmacy placement would make a huge difference for them.

So looking at all of these things will change the landscape of what is a large financial burden for lots of Australians. And we really want these simple things done. There's nothing complicated about any of them. They've in fact all been recommended already by various regulatory groups around the country. We think it's time that the new Government just said, “ Let's do this”.

CAITLIN FURLONG: Really- yeah. Really interesting ideas there. How receptive has the government been to these recommendations?

STEVE ROBSON: Well, I think we've spent a lot of time- we, the College of General Practitioners, lots of groups have been to the new Government, and we understand that they've inherited a lot from previous federal governments. But with the upcoming Budget, there's the opportunity to totally reset this, to look at the fact that many, many Australians and many Australian families are facing these incredible cost pressures and say: “Well, look, this is one thing that the most vulnerable people can have changed really straight away.”

So we've had a lot of interest from Government in this and we really hope that they'll listen, in fact, to their own advisers because none of these are really original ideas from us. We've just put them back on the table. So they've already been recommended by groups like the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. It's time for this Government to look at those and take the recommendations of their own bodies.

CAITLIN FURLONG: Well, this is one I'll certainly be watching closely. AMA President, Professor Steve Robson, thank you for joining us this morning. I really appreciate you giving us your time.

STEVE ROBSON: It's a real pleasure. Thank you.