Half of Australia's prescription drug prices have increased since July 1

Source: the Australian government signed a new agreement with pharmacists last week on June 25, 2015 Since July 1, half of the drug prices in the drug subsidy plan will rise On Tuesday, health officials disclosed the full impact of the new deal at a Senate hearing, with any drug currently costing less than 36 yuan to consumers facing rising prices Pharmacists will start charging $3.49 to replace the current 15% mark up, according to the latest five-year medical agreement signed last week The price rise - 3.49 yuan or 41% -- will affect 90% of commonly used prescription drugs in Australia, including cholesterol lowering drugs atorvastatin, rosuvastatin and simvastatin, blood pressure lowering drugs perindopril and irbesartan, and diabetes drug metformin ) Thousands of other drugs will be affected, including antibiotics, osteoporosis drug alendronate, antidepressant fluoxetine, arthritis drug meloxicam and breast cancer drug tamoxifen Analysis shows that the price of these drugs will rise by 2 to 3 yuan per prescription However, the price of some of these drugs will decrease after 14 months of adjustment of drug subsidy policy For example, the price of cholesterol lowering drug rosuvastatin will rise by 1.1 yuan from July 1, but it will decrease by 11.49 yuan by October 2016 If pensioners and other people with preferential prices buy these drugs, taxpayers will have to pay for them However, when the distribution price of the most purchased drugs exceeds 36 yuan, the government can save money because the handling fee of 3.49 yuan is lower than the current markup However, unlike the government, once the drug price exceeds 36 yuan, the average consumer is unlikely to save money, because the subsidy starts from 37.7 yuan, which is the highest price paid by the consumer Last week, health minister Susan ley made no mention of any price hikes at all in a press conference or press release about the deal Instead, she focuses on the fact that some pharmacies will be able to offer a one yuan discount on their own expenses in the future, and that the prices of some drugs will fall Brian Morton, a spokesman for general practitioners at the Australian Medical Association, said some of his patients with diabetes and heart disease take up to seven drugs at the same time According to the calculation of news group, the increase in drug prices may lead to an increase of 18 yuan per month and 218 yuan per year for such patients Michael O'Neil, head of the national senior Australia, believes that the national pharmaceutical guild is sacrificing the interests of consumers and the reform has failed completely Health minister Ley, however, defended the reforms, saying there was still a need to ensure that the industry survived because they had lost 16 per cent of their dispensing revenues According to the latest survey of consumer group choice, 64% of consumers are concerned about the price of drugs He said that if the price of drugs soared, it would be very worrying, because Australians have been complaining about the existing price of drugs.