Patient Voice Aotearoa chairman Malcolm Mulholland believes Pharmac still needs more money to fund new medicines.
This comes after the government announced a $1.77 billion boost to fund pricier existing medicines, making this Pharmac’s biggest budget at $6.29 billion.
“I think it was good in terms of avoiding the fiscal cliff Pharmac faced, Mulholland said.
“If that fiscal cliff had taken place, what that would have meant was that a lot of our whānau may have been deprived of the medicines that they currently received.
“So I think giving patients certainty is a good thing,” Mulholland said.
Although he doesn’t think it’s enough money, Mulholland still believed it would be beneficial.
“It will benefit everybody, including Māori, because, as we know, a lot of our whānau are dependent on medications to get better health outcomes.
“So certainly a lot of our whānau will continue to receive the medicines they so desperately need.”
‘Life or death’
Today and tomorrow the first national medicines summit was held at Parliament, which both Mulholland and Associate Health Minister David Seymour attended.
Seymour made the Pharmac announcement earlier today, saying access to medicine was necessary for many Kiwis.
“For many New Zealanders, funding for pharmaceuticals is life or death or the difference between a life of pain and suffering or living freely. It was a priority for this government to find the additional $1.774 billion to prevent this from happening.
“This is what New Zealanders can expect from this government – prioritising spending so we can focus on what is most important for them,” he said in a statement.
The National and Act coalition agreement aimed to reform Pharmac’s funding model, while New Zealand First and National committed to annual funding increases for Pharmac.
‘Fiscal jiggery pokery’
Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall called the announcement today a “fiscal jiggery pokery” from the National-led government.
She questioned Seymour on where the extra $1.050 billion came from.
“Seymour has asserted there is a “$1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. The actual figure published in the pre-election update was $724M and David Seymour is trying to gloss over $1.050 billion of increased costs at Pharmac.
“David Seymour needs to explain why an additional estimated $1.050 billion needs to be spent for the Pharmac budget to stand still.
“Hopeful patients and advocates will welcome this funding – but David Seymour needs to be up front with them about how far it will go,” she said.
Pharmac’s budget had increased 51 per cent over the six years during Labour’s time in government, leading to 75 new medicines being accessible and wider access to 137 treatments, Verrall said in a statement.
“Labour did more to increase access to medicine than any government before it, and will continue to fight to see the investment in the health of Kiwis continue.
“This is a government that has pledged to remove free prescriptions for New Zealanders – they have promised to destroy access to medicine for millions of people.
“Today’s talk of fiscal cliffs is merely scapegoating for the funding the government won’t deliver because they have prioritised tax cuts over properly funding health,” Verrall said.