12 December 2013 - Figures contained in a report released this week by the Parliamentary Budget Office confirm that the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme has not been the major driver of growing Commonwealth health expenditure over the last decade.

This is the first outbreak of sanity in the debate about PBS spending we’ve seen in a long time,” Medicines Australia Chief Executive, Dr Brendan Shaw, said today. “If we’re not careful we might actually start basing the PBS debate on facts, rather than the ill informed musings we’ve seen from commentators and think tanks in recent times.“

The report shows that the PBS has not been the main driver of growing health expenditure over the last decade. It’s not the villain some people have painted it as.”

For more details, go to: http://medicinesaustralia.com.au/2013/12/12/parliamentary-budget-office-confirms-pbs-spending-not-the-villain/#more-11276