Human cost of bureaucratic inertia: Senator Ruston in the spotlight over HTA reforms

Weeks ahead of the 3 May Federal Election, Pfizer Australia hosted Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care, Senator Anne Ruston, for a fireside chat with Pfizer Australia & New Zealand Managing Director, Anne Harris. The event placed a glaring spotlight on one of the most contentious issues: the delayed reforms to the nation’s Health Technology Assessment (HTA) system.

Before Senator Ruston took the stage, a panel featuring Liz de Somer, CEO of Medicines Australia, and Richard Vines, Founder and Chair of Rare Cancers Australia, delivered scathing views of the gridlock standing in the way of meaningful reforms.

“We cannot underestimate the power of the bureaucracy in not wanting to deliver reform, and therefore it’s going to take that extra mile of political leadership to direct the bureaucracy to deliver on [the HTA] reforms,” warned de Somer. “We will be fighting uphill to make sure that it is understood what needs to happen from our perspective and the patient’s perspective.”

Vines went further, laying bare the human cost of bureaucratic inertia. “How long is a reasonable time before a drug is reimbursed and made available to Australians?” he demanded. “Walk past the graves of the people who waited. We can’t continue to think that this is an academic and economic discussion. This is about people’s lives.”

Senator Ruston took centre stage to defend the Coalition’s vision for health reform, attempting to position herself as a future health minister ready to break the bureaucratic stalemate.

“The opportunity for us to deliver a more efficient and effective process for people to get access to new innovations ends up making good economic sense,” she said. “The earlier that you can provide somebody with access to a treatment, the greater the likelihood of addressing the condition at an earlier stage, with better outcome for the individual and the productivity into the economy more generally.”

She added, “We have had a lot of reviews. A review’s only worth the paper it’s written on if it’s not sitting on a shelf but being enacted.”

Senator Ruston, under direct questioning from patient advocates and health sector leaders, laid out her ambitions for a reformed healthcare landscape.

“If there was one thing I wanted to do – if I was lucky enough to become the health minister after the next election – my time would see a healthier Australia,” she said, noting the country’s rising burden of chronic disease and the mental health crisis.

Health Industry Hub raised a critical question about how to shift the HTA from being a mere procurement process fixated on the lowest price to one that prioritises innovative health technologies that are lifesaving and life-changing.

“We need to be reviewing our system as one that focuses on prevention, early intervention, and targeted treatments… turning the psyche to our healthcare as an investment in the nation going forward,” Senator Ruston said, highlighting the cost-saving benefits that come with earlier intervention.

Harris reiterated the stark reality that Australian patients currently wait an average of 466 days for access to medicines already deemed safe and effective by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). That’s 100 days slower than the OECD average and 300 days slower than access in Japan, Germany, and the UK.

“Time is life and patients deserve faster access. To do this, we must take the opportunity to re-imagine Australia’s PBS for the benefit of patients now and into the future,” Harris said.

“By making changes to the government’s policies that affect access to medicines, we can ensure that it keeps pace with the rapid scientific advancements we are seeing, that Australia remains a wave-one launch country, and recognises the full value of innovative medicines.”

For eight years, Pfizer Invites has drawn key health stakeholders and politicians from both sides. As the election looms, all eyes now turn to whether Health Minister Mark Butler will front the same scrutiny at a forthcoming event – if he agrees to show up.

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