Pharmacies in regional, rural and remote Australia with average script volumes equalling dispensing income of under $1 million in the 12 months to April 1, 2023 will be eligible to receive a new Regional Pharmacy Transition Allowance (RPTA).

However, Narrandera pharmacist Mel Close has warned that while that information made it look pretty rosy, the additional funding was based on the number of prescriptions dispensed per year and was not what it seems.

The four-year funding, which begins on September 1, is claimed help pharmacies adjust to the transition to 60-day prescriptions with the new transition allowance to provide the following additional support over four years:

• $52,030 in a regional centre or outer suburb (MM2)
• $396,909 in a large rural town (MM3)
• $344,697 in a medium rural town (MM4)
• $338,477 in a small rural town (MM5) $213,391 a remote community (MM6) $198,263 a very remote community (MM7).

This new allowance is in addition to the doubling of the budget for the Regional Pharmacy Maintenance Allowance (RPMA), which came into effect on July 1. The RPMA increase that took effect on July mean that a pharmacy dispensing 50,000 scripts a year will likely receive over four years:

• 24,000 in a large rural town (MM3)
• $41,440 in a medium rural town (MM4)
• $70,880 in a small rural town (MM5)
• $100,320 in a remote community (MM6)
• $129,760 in a very remote community (MM7).

“So for my pharmacy, the RPTA is about $30,000 paid over four years. To give some context, my pharmacy injects almost $500,000 in wages to the Narrandera community each year. While the announcement is welcome, it does not come close to the funding that will be lost, or the significant impact this measure will have on most pharmacies,” Ms Close said.

“Again, this measure was created without consultation with pharmacists or The Pharmacy Guild and is patently unfair to all the pharmacies that are not included, as they dispense ‘too many’ prescriptions or are not within these areas.”

While this week’s announcement recognised that pharmacies held a special place in rural and regional Australia as a critical part of the fabric of a community and were often the most accessible health setting, it also recognised that rural pharmacies faced particular challenges because a smaller pharmacy often had a smaller customer base and a smaller retail footprint. Dispensing medicines often comprised a larger proportion of the revenue mix for such pharmacies.

The statement said the new transition allowance comes on top of a major seven per cent increase to Government payments to every single pharmacy that took effect on July 1. This boost to pharmacy payments was nearly double the increase to Medicare rebates that took effect at the same time.

The transition allowance is the final re-investment measure to be announced from the $1.2 billion that the Government is reinvesting into community pharmacy.

Australian Health Minister Mark Butler said 60-day prescriptions meant twice the medication for the cost of a single prescription and would save money and time for more than six million Australians with an ongoing health condition.

“This new transition payment will provide significant additional support for more than a thousand pharmacies in regional, rural and remote Australia. Pharmacies hold a special place in rural and regional Australia – they’re a critical part of the fabric of a community and are often the most accessible health setting.

“The ABS tells us every year, nearly a million Australians delay buying medicine that their doctor has said is necessary for their health, because they can’t afford it. In a country as wealthy as ours, Australians shouldn’t have to make a choice between buying medicine, paying their rent, or buying food. That’s why making medicines cheaper was a key election commitment of the Albanese Government and we’re delivering on that promise.” 

This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 10 August 2023.

Related story: Cheaper medicines and backing local pharmacies: Butler