Grey MP Rowan Ramsey has raised concerns about Federal Government plans that will see patients visits to local pharmacies halved.
The changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme will allow millions of Australians to buy two months’ worth of medicine for the price of a single prescription, halving costs for patients, but also cutting pharmacists government subsidies for dispensing medicine.
Mr Ramsey says because the Government have not consulted with pharmacies, failed to consider the implications for community pharmacies and not anticipated the supply problems, it’s likely to have a raft of unintended consequences, especially for small regional pharmacies.
He said all of us would be happy to visit the pharmacy less often, but the policy is rushed and is likely to cause a number of problems the Government had not considered.
Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay
