News

'Policy lag tax' hurting patients

Posted 30 June 2026 PM

Australia is imposing a hidden “policy lag tax” on patients when there is an unnecessary delay between a medical innovation becoming available and patients being able to access it, says former pharma exec and government staffer Vincent So.

“Unlike a financial tax, this cost is not paid in dollars to government,” So told Pharma in Focus. “It is paid through avoidable illness, reduced quality of life, additional healthcare utilisation and, in some cases, premature death or disability. While governments rightly focus on the cost of funding new treatments or diagnostic pathways, we often pay insufficient attention to the cost of delaying them.”

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