Price Disclosure represents the Australian Government’s single largest budget savings measure ever implemented. Government savings to date total over $15 billion. The Department of Health and Aged Care’s annual report states that “Price Disclosure is continuing to produce significant savings that are driven by market forces”.

PBS expenditure by government totals over $11 billion per annum, representing 13% of total federal health expenditure. On behalf of the Department of Health and Aged Care, AHA has administered the PBS Price Disclosure program since its inception in 2011. Under this program, AHA assists the department to secure reductions in the prices of drugs listed on the PBS (F2 Formulary), which to date have resulted in government savings of over $15 billion.

AHA was recently reappointed to this role following a competitive tender process. AHA’s ongoing role includes:

• collecting six-monthly data for sales of over 4,000 pharmaceutical products that are marketed in Australia by more than 70 pharmaceutical manufacturers
• calculating discounts being provided by manufacturers to wholesalers and pharmacies, and undertake a set of prescribed calculations (as per the National Health Act) to identify and determine new PBS pricing
• securely receiving, managing and storing significant volumes of highly confidential data
• maintaining sophisticated IT systems to manage and undertake necessary processes
• assisting the government with policy-related aspects of the program, including planning evolution and changes to the policy.

The Price Disclosure regime is established under Part VII of the National Health Act 1953 and is administered by the Department of Health and Aged Care.