The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and the shifting paradigm of welfare policy

Abstract

This paper describes the design and operation of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Schemeand then proceeds with an analysis of current policy deliberations which identifiesan extension of the market as predominant trend. The paper demonstrates that theconditions which historically sustained the scheme are now present to a lesser extent.The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme has functioned as a universalist welfare programwhich conferred onto the Commonwealth Department of Health substantial powersvis-Ó-vis drug suppliers and professional groups. This position of dominance has beeneroded, with challenges to established arrangements arising, in particular, from theenhanced bargaining position of business and wider pressures operating on theKeynesian welfare state.