the budget needs to pay for these funded medicines. If there is money left after that, PHARMAC can consider funding new medicines. Finding the money for new medicines Since 2014, PHARMAC’s budget has increased a little every year. These increases covered the costs of population growth and normal inflation. They sometimes get a big increase to meet a specific goal, such as the extra costs caused by COVID-19. To free up enough budget to fund new medicines, PHARMAC reduces the cost of the medicines they already fund. Once a medicine is funded, generally, it stays funded. PHARMAC has been very successful at negotiating the costs of medicines. These savings have allowed them to fund more new medicines every year.
How new medicines get funded ? Before PHARMAC can fund a medicine, they need an application to fund it. They receive most funding applications from pharmaceutical companies. They also accept applications from doctors and patients.
Ask the experts Usually, the first step is to get advice fr4om their own clinical experts. 140 clinical experts make up their clinical committees. They assess all the scientific evidence. The experts panel includes doctors, specialists, nurses and others who are treating people. These experts see how medicines and other treatments can improve people’s lives. PHARMAC has an overarching committee called Pharmacology and Therapeutics Advisory Committee (PTAC). There are also subcommittees which advise PTAC.
What kind of advice do they get? PTAC will recommend whether PHARMAC should fund an application or not. They may recommend that they decline an application because it adds no value or is harmful. PTAC might say that a medicine works well, but that PHARMAC already funds medicines that are just as good. So they may recommend to fund those medicines if they don’t cost any extra (are cost neutral) or PHARMAC can save money with them. If they recommend funding a medicine, they will give it a low, medium or high priority.
Healthcare & Pharmaceutical Landscape of NZ
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