The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is crucial to the health of Australian citizens and to the economic prosperity of Australia. Yet the PBS is blighted by the fact that it does not secure access to some of the most cutting-edge medicines in the world. This report identifies that this problem has been driven by two longstanding structural weaknesses:

• low and falling levels of government investment
• a worsening reimbursement process for new medicines.

As a result, Australian patients are missing out on access to innovative medicines that are available in other countries. 

The critical need to address these issues is now being amplified by the twin threat of:

• United States policy causing an unprecedented rebalancing of global medicine pricing incentives
• Australian policy creating an inflexible system that undervalues new medicines.

Despite its strengths, the PBS is not keeping pace with global medical innovation. This report presents a challenging picture and reinforces an urgent need to act. The report highlights several examples where innovative medicines and vaccines available internationally have not received listing on the PBS in Australia due to the malfunctioning Health Technology Assessment system leaving patients with costly or no access.