Consultation Paper on Proposal to Introduce a Cost Recovered Pathway for Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) Applications

Page last updated: 4 January 2022

The Department of Health invites submissions in relation to a proposal to introduce a cost recovered pathway for applications received from commercial entities seeking reimbursement decisions from the Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC).

This proposal seeks to address one of the key recommendations (recommendation 31) from the House of Representatives ‘Inquiry into approval processes for new drugs and novel medical technologies in Australia’ report titled The New Frontier – Delivering better health for all Australians that was tabled on 25 November 2021. This recommendation includes that the Department should, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, introduce fees for MSAC applications on a cost recovery basis as a means to increase the speed and efficacy of MSAC assessments. This proposal subsequently provides a mechanism to allow for shortened processing timeframes for MSAC applications through the implementation of fees.

The consultation paper and a survey seeking stakeholder views on the proposal is available here.

The Department welcomes feedback from stakeholders via the survey link. There is opportunity to provide responses to set questions as well as commentary on any other issues stakeholders identify as important.

The consultation opened on 4 January 2022 and closes at 5pm on 18 February 2022.