E&OE…
Topics; Labor’s private health insurance policy forcing regional hospitals to cut services; Mavenclad listed on the PBS for MS
MICHAEL MCLAREN:
Look, from that back into the real world – good news for multiple sclerosis sufferers this Christmas Eve because patients are set to save $54,000 a year after the drug Mavenclad was listed on the PBS by the Morrison Government. Now, from 1 January – so it’s just around the corner – the MS medication will cost $40.30 per script or just $6.50 for concessional patients. Huge saving. The Government’s going to subsidise almost the entire cost of the drug. Now, clinical trials for the drug showed that multiple sclerosis symptoms began dissipating within a month of treatment, so for many this really is a Christmas miracle.
Of course the Health Minister is Greg Hunt, he joins us on the line. Merry Christmas, Greg.
GREG HUNT:
And to you, Michael.
MICHAEL MCLAREN:
And you’ve brought a merry Christmas to a lot of people because of this, haven’t you?
GREG HUNT:
Oh look, it really is an important step forward. So the medicine is Mavenclad and it’s for multiple sclerosis and the estimate is that about 6,200 Australians will have access to and benefit from Mavenclad from 1 January. And it is one of these breakthrough medicines.
It means that there are fewer relapses, less disease activity, and less progression of disability and in some cases you’ll have a reversal of symptoms. It’s not a cure but it’s an incredibly important treatment, but $54,000 a year it would have been beyond the reach of virtually every Australian family.
MICHAEL MCLAREN:
It was a man from Melbourne, wasn’t it, back in 2010 that in fact became the first person in the world to be prescribed this Mavenclad and now here we are it’s on the PBS eight years later.
GREG HUNT:
Yeah, this is one of the proudest achievements of our government that we’ve been able to list almost 2,000 new medicines and invest a little over $10.5 billion in the PBS. But it’s more than that, it’s this sense of hope and possibility – whether it’s MS, whether it’s polycystic kidney disease, whether it’s lung cancer or melanoma, these new breakthrough medicines – cystic fibrosis – it’s just made a huge difference, a real difference to people’s lives.
And I meet the patients who’ve benefitted from these medicines and it can be just a transformation. And I know for the PM, he, you know, we asked him: would you like to do the multiple sclerosis one? Because he’d been very involved in getting it listed and there’s a family connection.
MICHAEL MCLAREN:
Yes, there is.
GREG HUNT:
Not that his family sadly benefits from this particular medicine, but it’s a cause. He thinks that what we’re doing with the listing of medicines is perhaps the strongest indicator – if you’ve got a strong economy you can list these new medicines and it’s literally how you can see government economic policy being translated into people’s lives on a day-to-day basis.
MICHAEL MCLAREN:
Well that’s very well said and that’s very, very true. Speaking of government policy and being translated to people’s lives on a daily basis and health in mind, of course, Labor, should they form government, are pretty keen I think on a 2 per cent cap on private health insurance premium increases. Now, there’s been a few things said from Catholic Health Australia among others about the potential downside of a policy like that. I’m sure you see the downside?
GREG HUNT:
Yes. So the sad part is it’s not actually a cap. It comes with taking the private health insurance rebate away from over five million Australians. So, on average, that would mean a 16 per cent increase in the cost of private health insurance.
But at the same time, hospitals such as the not-for-profits, particularly in regional areas – and whether you’re thinking of Gladstone or Mackay, Townsville, Rockhampton – will face very significant reductions in their obstetric, potentially cancer and potentially dental treatments in their negotiations with the private health insurers.
So, you get the worst of all possible worlds – a rise in price for individuals and a decrease in services through the not-for-profit hospitals which, you know, do an amazing job. And the fact that they’re warning about this in documents and already preparing to have to scale back their services I think it would make most Australians say that would be a catastrophic outcome.
MICHAEL MCLAREN:
Yeah. Look, before you go – because look it’s Christmas, I won’t keep you long – the issue of private health premiums came up on the program last week, of course, when it was announced that the next rise will be something like three-point-something per cent.
The lowest we’ve seen for about ten or something years – but nonetheless above inflation. And a lot of people are now on the brink of either devaluing their private health cover, that is getting a lesser coverage, or dropping out altogether. And what- we’ve seen what happens when more and more people drop out. The premiums are forced to go higher and it becomes sort of like a vicious circle.
How do you justify- or can you justify to the listeners the fact that private health premiums over the last say ten years – I know you’ve not been in government the whole time – but they have gone up miles above inflation? People say we’re not getting value for money. There’s still often a gap of sorts that has to be paid. Why should people stick with private health insurance?
GREG HUNT:
Well the first thing is the relevant index is the cost of hospitals and medical treatment, and that’s at 4.2 per cent and so private health is going up 3.25 per cent. And we’ve got it down 40 per cent below what it was under Labor and lower than any year under Labor. It was, you know, in the 5.6 to 6 per cent a year under Labor and it’s now down to three and quarter under us.
And we’ve done that through reforms which deliver exactly the value you’re looking at, and that is firstly better mental health cover; secondly, coverage for rural and remote patients which has improved with their transport and their in-hospital treatment and then thirdly discounts for young people. So I know that absolutely every dollar counts. No family wants to pay an extra dollar. That’s why we’ve taken these steps. And the alternative is Labor’s actually proposing, as I say, to take the rebate away from over 5 million Australians.
And what does that mean? It means that there will be a 16 per cent price rise and exactly as we see today from Catholic Health’s briefing document, a decrease in services such cancer treatment, dental treatment and obstetric treatment. It’s almost inconceivable. So it’s a critical part of the Australian system.
It’s peace of mind, it’s coverage, the ability to get extra mental health support, and it’s been a real personal passion of mine because I know the cost matters and that’s why- it’s actually the lowest change in 18 years, as well as the simplicity of being able to see on one page what’s in, what’s out, no surprises. I know that that’s what your listeners and people around Australia really want.
MICHAEL MCLAREN:
They want value for money, that’s what it all comes down to. Look, thank you for your time. Have a Merry Christmas with the family and look forward to speaking to you next year.
GREG HUNT:
All the best for Christmas to you and to everybody listening.
MICHAEL MCLAREN:
Thank you so much. That is the Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt.