Medicine in Australia could soon become more expensive and harder to come by.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme – the safety net that keeps our prescriptions cheap – has been drawn into Donald Trump’s trade war, after the US president signed an order saying the United States should not pay more for medicines than its peer countries.

Drug companies have now paused new PBS listings and warn some treatments may never reach Australian patients.

Today, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Jason Koutsoukis, on how one decision in Washington could force Australians to pay more for vital drugs – and whether Canberra has the leverage to stop it.

 

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Guest: Special correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Jason Koutsoukis.

Photo: AP Photo/Julio Cortez

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