6 NEWS
NEW INDICATION 1
6 NEWS
22 AUGUST 2025 ausdoc. com. au
Senator tackles GP incentives
AAP |
Ciara Seccombe INDEPENDENT Senator David |
Distribution Priority Areas( DPAs), providing rural loading on certain |
“ I don’ t think it’ s fit for purpose. I do think we need a rethink,” Senator |
concentrated in a small jurisdiction, so GP practices are competing with |
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Pocock wants his home city classi- |
Medicare rebates and allowing clin- |
Pocock told Australian Doctor. |
the federal and territory public ser- |
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fied as regional and the entire GP |
ics to recruit IMGs and doctors on |
“ My push for MM 2 is using the |
vice for things like reception staff,” |
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Distribution Priority Area system to |
the Bonded Medical Program. |
government’ s current system, given |
he said. |
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be put under scrutiny. |
However, the former rugby star |
I haven’ t heard much that indicates |
“ Rent is high, and insurance is a |
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Most ACT suburbs are within |
said the entire system based around |
that they’ re up for bigger reform. |
real issue. |
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a Modified Monash( MM) 1 area— |
the MM Model was failing. |
“ I’ ll continue to talk about imme- |
“ I think we’ re the only juris- |
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meaning they are metropolitan— but |
A 2024 review found that some |
diate solutions for the ACT … but more |
diction that doesn’ t have a cap on |
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Senator Pocock says the GPs need the |
85 % of GP catchment areas were |
broadly, I’ ll keep talking about the |
insurance claims.” |
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extra support that comes with being |
classified as areas of need since the |
need for a better way of doing health.” |
He said some doctors lived in |
Senator David Pocock. |
named a regional centre( MM 2). This would automatically classify all ACT practices as |
Albanese Government radically extended automatic DPA status to outer-metropolitan areas. |
He said the ACT had just four bulk-billing GP practices.
“ We have two public services
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Canberra but worked in NSW, due to the better Medicare incentives in regional towns. |
‘ Change PBS rules on BP pills’
Jamie Thannoo PBS rules stopping doctors from prescribing single-pill combinations as first-line for hypertension are at odds with international guidelines and costing patients money, experts say.
The International Society of Hypertension and the European Society of Cardiology recommend single-pill combinations— multiple drugs in one pill— as initial treatment for high blood pressure.
A paper in the Journal of Hypertension has compared PBS co-payments for 57 of these single-pill combinations with their free-drug equivalents.
‘ It has gone under the radar.’
It found that the typical general patient would save an average of $ 12.91 per 60-day supply( a 30 % saving) if the PBS funded single-pill combinations as first-line treatments, while concessional patients and general patients who reached the safety net would save $ 7.79.
Study author Professor Alta Schutte said the rules were outdated.
“ I think it has gone under the radar that a large amount of funding is going to pharmacies,” she said.
The PBAC recommended moving dual-therapy, single-pill combinations to an unrestricted listing last December, but the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing told Australian Doctor it was still assessing the cost.
The PBAC said patient savings would be limited because Australian guidelines did not recommend single-pill combinations as initial treatment.
However, this would likely change when Australia’ s hypertension guidelines were next updated, said Professor Schutte, a member of the expert team working on the updates.
* Professor Schutte has disclosed fees from several pharmaceutical companies.
NEW INDICATION 1
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This medicinal product is subject to additional monitoring in Australia due to approval of an extension of indications. This will allow quick identification of new safety information. Healthcare professionals are asked to report any suspected adverse events at www. tga. gov. au / reporting-problems.
J Hypertens 2025; Sep.