Thursday, 07 January 2010 10:58 Added by Lynn Wohlfiel

2010 represents another important year of reform for Australia's health system, with several initiatives commencing on 1 January to further the Government's reform agenda.

Good news for Australians accessing medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Australians living with HIV will benefit from the listing of tenofovir with emtracitabine and efavirenz (Atripla®) to the Highly Specialised Drugs Program.The additional cost to the PBS will be approximately $15 million over four years.

The Government will also improve the operation of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS).

In the 2009-10 Budget, the Rudd Government announced that it would provide $9.3 million over two years to develop and implement a new evidence-based framework for managing the MBS into the future – the MBS Quality Framework.

From today, a new listing process will ensure a more robust evaluation process for decisions relating to the listing of MBS items.

You can read the full article here.