Report to Parliament - Pharmaceutical Industry Discussion Group (PIDG)

13 March 2012

Report to Parliament on the meeting of the Pharmaceutical Industry Discussion Group (PIDG) to identify and examine potential unintended consequences of the 2010-11 Budget Measure Further Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Pricing Reform.

The National Health Amendment (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme) Act 2010 (the Act) gave effect to the 2010-11 Budget Measure ‘Further Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Pricing Reform’, including Expanded and Accelerated Price Disclosure (EAPD), from 1 December 2010.

To secure passage of the amendments to the Act, the Government agreed to a number of requests made by the Senate. One of these requests was the creation of a stakeholder group, the Pharmaceutical Industry Discussion Group (PIDG), to discuss the potential and actual impacts of Further PBS Pricing Reform, with a report to be tabled in the Parliament detailing the outcomes of each meeting.

The Report of the first meeting was tabled in Parliament on 13 March 2012 and is available on the Department of Health and Ageing website: www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/PIDG-report