Free RAT rollout to concession cardholders pushes through amidst calls from pharmacists that supplies won’t keep up with demand
- Replies 20
Now we are a day late to this one, folks! As you may already know, millions of Australians are now eligible for free rapid antigen tests (RATs) starting Monday the 24th of January (yesterday).
Concession card holders — such as pensioners, veterans, and low-income earners — are entitled to up to 10 free RATs in a three-month period, with a maximum of five tests in a month.
However, pharmacists warned that supply shortages will cause pharmacies to struggle to meet the demand as RAT stock instantly sells out as soon as fresh deliveries arrive.
Free RAT rollout to concession cardholders will push through amidst calls from pharmacists that they are struggling with supply shortages. Credit: ABC News/Danielle Bonica.
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) Chris Freeman revealed that pharmacies had to hire extra staff just to cope with the huge number of enquiries they receive every day.
Dr Freeman said: "They're reporting that they're receiving at least four calls per minute in relation to getting access to these rapid antigen tests."
"The demand is extreme and pharmacists are being pushed to the limit with this at the moment."
It should be noted that earlier this month, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that over 6 million Australians who are concession cardholders will be given access to free RATs, with the national cabinet agreeing to reimburse $10 and provide GST and an additional $4.30 handling fee to pharmacists for every RAT they provided to those who are eligible under the new scheme.
However, PSA said that supplies of the tests cannot meet the demand, suggesting that a $15 price tag per test would be more appropriate.
Dr Freeman said: "Those tests are extremely rare at the moment, which does push up the price — so the $10 plus GST [reimbursement] is a challenge, in terms of making sure that the pharmacies can buy them in at a price equal or lower to that."
The group also pointed out that reimbursements take up to a month to be given back to the pharmacy.
"If you're purchasing quite a number of these tests, you might be out of pocket substantially for a month while you're waiting for those reimbursements to come in," Dr Freeman said.
"In the ideal world, we would have these tests supplied into pharmacies from government, rather than the pharmacists themselves trying to source the supply."
Pharmacists said that RATs sold out as soon as stocks are delivered to pharmacies. Credit: ABC News/Sean Wales.
The federal government has insisted, however, that the national cabinet would regularly review the reimbursement rate, ensuring that the reimbursements would keep up with the price for RATs.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce pointed out that hoarding was one of the culprits for the shortages of RATs.
"A lot of the time it's even corporations or businesses that are buying up more than they require, it's part and parcel," he said.
"Hoarding has been a factor and we've got to make sure we manage that."
"You manage by finding the problems and working your way through them."
Health Minister Greg Hunt said that 16 million tests are expected to be delivered to pharmacies
"between now and the end of January" and another batch of 33 million tests will be delivered next month, easing the huge demand.
Additionally, he emphasised that pharmacists are reserving RATs for vulnerable groups.
"We've worked with the Pharmacy Guild and what we're seeing is all the participating pharmacists are putting aside tests and I think that's really important," he said.
"I spoke to one pharmacy chain CEO yesterday … where they were expecting to have 500 packs of five tests available in the vast majority of their pharmacies which had been put aside specifically for pensioners, concession card holders, low-income healthcare cardholders and our veterans, and we're seeing that across the system."
Meanwhile, the federal opposition criticised the Commonwealth due to its lack of planning.
Shadow Health Minister Mark Butler said: "Remarkably, Scott Morrison says it's not his job to supply tests to the pharmacies in the first place."
"Yet again, refusing to take responsibility to deliver his own policy and pretending it's all someone else's job.
"Millions of Australia's pensioners and pharmacies will be left high and dry by another failure by Scott Morrison to just do his job."
Concession card holders — such as pensioners, veterans, and low-income earners — are entitled to up to 10 free RATs in a three-month period, with a maximum of five tests in a month.
However, pharmacists warned that supply shortages will cause pharmacies to struggle to meet the demand as RAT stock instantly sells out as soon as fresh deliveries arrive.
Free RAT rollout to concession cardholders will push through amidst calls from pharmacists that they are struggling with supply shortages. Credit: ABC News/Danielle Bonica.
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) Chris Freeman revealed that pharmacies had to hire extra staff just to cope with the huge number of enquiries they receive every day.
Dr Freeman said: "They're reporting that they're receiving at least four calls per minute in relation to getting access to these rapid antigen tests."
"The demand is extreme and pharmacists are being pushed to the limit with this at the moment."
It should be noted that earlier this month, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that over 6 million Australians who are concession cardholders will be given access to free RATs, with the national cabinet agreeing to reimburse $10 and provide GST and an additional $4.30 handling fee to pharmacists for every RAT they provided to those who are eligible under the new scheme.
However, PSA said that supplies of the tests cannot meet the demand, suggesting that a $15 price tag per test would be more appropriate.
Dr Freeman said: "Those tests are extremely rare at the moment, which does push up the price — so the $10 plus GST [reimbursement] is a challenge, in terms of making sure that the pharmacies can buy them in at a price equal or lower to that."
The group also pointed out that reimbursements take up to a month to be given back to the pharmacy.
"If you're purchasing quite a number of these tests, you might be out of pocket substantially for a month while you're waiting for those reimbursements to come in," Dr Freeman said.
"In the ideal world, we would have these tests supplied into pharmacies from government, rather than the pharmacists themselves trying to source the supply."
Pharmacists said that RATs sold out as soon as stocks are delivered to pharmacies. Credit: ABC News/Sean Wales.
The federal government has insisted, however, that the national cabinet would regularly review the reimbursement rate, ensuring that the reimbursements would keep up with the price for RATs.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce pointed out that hoarding was one of the culprits for the shortages of RATs.
"A lot of the time it's even corporations or businesses that are buying up more than they require, it's part and parcel," he said.
"Hoarding has been a factor and we've got to make sure we manage that."
"You manage by finding the problems and working your way through them."
Health Minister Greg Hunt said that 16 million tests are expected to be delivered to pharmacies
"between now and the end of January" and another batch of 33 million tests will be delivered next month, easing the huge demand.
Additionally, he emphasised that pharmacists are reserving RATs for vulnerable groups.
"We've worked with the Pharmacy Guild and what we're seeing is all the participating pharmacists are putting aside tests and I think that's really important," he said.
"I spoke to one pharmacy chain CEO yesterday … where they were expecting to have 500 packs of five tests available in the vast majority of their pharmacies which had been put aside specifically for pensioners, concession card holders, low-income healthcare cardholders and our veterans, and we're seeing that across the system."
Meanwhile, the federal opposition criticised the Commonwealth due to its lack of planning.
Shadow Health Minister Mark Butler said: "Remarkably, Scott Morrison says it's not his job to supply tests to the pharmacies in the first place."
"Yet again, refusing to take responsibility to deliver his own policy and pretending it's all someone else's job.
"Millions of Australia's pensioners and pharmacies will be left high and dry by another failure by Scott Morrison to just do his job."
.png){kind=icon}
