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❌This bill did not pass parliament13 Dec 2021

The bill was rejected or lapsed before becoming law.

🏛 House of Representatives3 readingsAmendments circulated

National Health Amendment (Enhancing the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme) 2021

✦ Plain-English Summary

# National Health Amendment (Enhancing the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme) Bill 2021 ## What it does This bill updates how the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) — the government program that subsidises medicines — sets and adjusts drug prices. It makes changes to the rules around "approved ex-manufacturer prices" (basically what the government agrees to pay for medicines) and introduces new pricing mechanisms that take effect across different dates between now and 2027. ## Why it matters If you take prescription medicines covered by the PBS, these changes affect how much the government pays for them, which can flow through to what you pay at the pharmacy. The staggered rollout means the system gradually shifts to new pricing rules over the next several years. ## Key details - **Immediate changes** (day after the bill passes): Several older pricing rules are scrapped, cleaning up outdated provisions from a 2018 act - **Staged rollout**: New pricing arrangements kick in on 1 July 2022, 1 October 2022, 1 July 2023, and finally 1 July 2027 — giving the system time to adapt - **Who's affected**: Anyone using PBS-listed medicines, plus the pharmaceutical companies that supply them and the government that pays for them

Official Description

Amends the: National Health Act 1953 to: provide for price reductions on the fifth, tenth and fifteenth anniversary of a drug listing on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), and when the first new brand of a drug lists on the PBS; retain ministerial discretion to ensure that the minister can intervene if a legislated price reduction were to have an unintended consequence; and establish a price reduction floor, and stockholding requirements, for certain PBS listed brands that may be susceptible to global medicines shortages; and National Health Amendment (Pharmaceutical Benefits—Budget and Other Measures) Act 2018 to remove redundant provisions.

Committee Referrals

Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills

Full bill PDF →APH page →

Audit History

Introduced

28 Oct 2021

Last updated on APH

10 Apr 2026

Outcome date

13 Dec 2021

Last checked by Crossbench

yesterday

Full text indexed

yesterday

🗳️

No formal division recorded

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