The recently announced Regional Pharmacy Transitional Allowance (RPTA) by the Albanese Government has drawn criticism from the Pharmacy Guild because it’s created perverse financial outcomes.
The Health Minister announced the $148.2 million RPTA last month and says it’s designed to “help pharmacies adjust to the transition to 60-day prescriptions.”
The allowance applies to rural and regional pharmacies classified from MMM2 to MMM7 with payments ranging from $52,030 to $396,909 over the next four years depending on script volume.
According to the government, it only applies to pharmacies with average script volumes equalling dispensing income of under $1 million in the 12 months to 1 April 2023.
However, the Guild says the matrix when applied with the Rural Pharmacy Maintenance Allowance (RPMA) has provided perverse outcomes by cutting the total allowance if script numbers exceed a certain amount.
To give one example, if a pharmacy is rated MMM3-5, according to the government it will get an average total annual allowance of $153,000 if it dispenses over 45,825 scripts but stands to lose up to $340,000 if it dispenses more than 57,282.
The Guild says such outcomes could have been avoided if the government had consulted the pharmacy sector.
“This latest announcement is part of a piece-meal and ad hoc approach to the government’s implementation of 60-day dispensing with no consultation,” a Guild Spokesperson said.
“The fact the Health Minister is hurriedly making changes in funding announcements just goes to show he hasn’t gotten it right when it comes to 60-day dispensing.
“The only way to give community pharmacies the financial certainty they need is to immediately bring forward negotiations of an eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement."
