On the 3rd of June 2024, it was announced that the Australian Government and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia had finalised the 8th Community Pharmacy Agreement (8CPA) and a Strategic Agreement on Pharmacist Professional Practice. As part of the 8CPA, the Government has committed an additional $3b over the term of the Agreement, to support the National Medicines Policy 2022 goals.

The funding is spread across the following elements:

  1. Payment for the supply of PBS and RPBS prescriptions, with increased dispensing quantities
  2. New and expanded Community Pharmacy Programs
  3. Freezing of indexation and reduction in Maximum Co-payments
  4. Implementation and evaluation costs
  5. 7CPA remuneration adjustment closure cost[1].

A key change from the 7th Community Pharmacy Agreement (7CPA) to 8CPA brings good news, as the PBS remuneration per script will increase each year, driven by the Consumer Price Index. Under 7CPA, this was frozen. More good news is that two new fees will be introduced into legislation relating to 60-day scripts, including an additional Administration Handling and Infrastructure (API) payment.

Affordability for patients will be addressed by a $1 discount, fully funded by the Commonwealth, and a 30% funding increase in healthcare programs delivered by community pharmacies. Over 1,200 regional pharmacies will benefit from an increase in the Regional Pharmacy Maintenance Allowance.

These changes are more meaningful when we look at the comparison of 8CPA with the (7CPA)[2]:

  1. Dispensing fees have increased
    • Dispensing fee from $8.37 to $8.67
    • Tier One Administration, Handling and Infrastructure (AHI) Fee from $4.62 to $4.79
    • Dangerous Drug fee from $5.18 to $5.37
  2. 60-day script relief
    • Two new dispensing fees have been introduced on Section 85 PBS subsidised script, the Additional Community Supply Support Payment
      • Payable on dispense, including repeats
      • Apply to eligible PBS subsidised medicines
    • The first is equivalent to the Tier One AHI Fee (above)
    • The second relates to a balancing fee, paid on a quarterly basis
    • Both new fees will be back paid on scripts dispensed from 1 April 2024 (find out more from the Pharmacy Guild here).
  3. Dose Administration Aid cap increase
    • The base cap will change from 60 to 90 per week
    • Pharmacies can claim at the higher rate from 1 July 2024
  4. Funding for MedsCheck, Diabetes MedsCheck, and Staged Supply will increase
  5. The National Diabetes Scheme will no longer operate as part of 8CPA.

Changes will take effect from 1 July 2024.

The Guild has partnered with NostraData to provide a calculator for members to calculate the affects to their revenues from 8CPA. We are also aware that a number of the “Banner groups” are also providing reports.

The Pharmacy Guild has designed an 8CPA Fact Sheet that provides case study examples on how the new Agreement affects dispensing revenues. You can find it here. The Agreement provides industry stability for the immediate future and is valid until 30 June 2029.

 

[1] Eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care

[2] 8CPA FAQs – The Pharmacy Guild of Australia