National pitches new Pharmac fund, ring-fenced for rare medicines

Wed, 16 Sep 2020

The National Party has pledged to increase Pharmac’s annual budget by $90 million a year if elected to government, but would ring-fence the funds for cancer and rare disorder treatments.The increase would be made up of a $50 million cancer drug fund, a $5 million fund for rare disorders, and a commitment to increase general funding at the same rate as the health budget—estimated to be a $35 million increase.Pharmac is a Crown entity that decides what medicines are subsidised. As virtually the only buyer, it employs enormous negotiat...

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