The longevity and budgetary impact of the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
A 2023 Fred Gruen public lecture presented by Professor Frank Lichtenberg
Hosted by The Australian National University Research School of Economics
In his presentation, Frank assesses the effect of long-run changes in the drugs provided by the PBS on mortality and hospital utilisation in Australia. He estimates that if the number of PBS drugs had not increased between 1996 and 2013, the number of years of life lost before age 85 in 2019 would have been 21.2 per cent higher than it actually was. Furthermore, he demonstrates that the 1996–2013 increase in the number of PBS drugs reduced the number of years of life lost before age 85 in 2019 by 359,026.
Frank shows that if the number of PBS drugs had not increased between 1994 and 2011, the number of hospital days in 2019 would have been 10.6 per cent higher than it actually was, and that the 1994–2011 increase in the number of PBS drugs reduced the number of hospital days in 2019 by A$2.48 million.