Funding flaw means poorer communities pay more at the pharmacy

Dr Eric Crampton
3 February, 2026

Think for a moment about how some pharmacy services are funded. Or rather, not really funded.

It underlies a lot of the angst about changes in regulations concerning pharmacy ownership and the agreements that let pharmacies dispense funded medicines.

For a long time, the implicit deal worked like this. It wasn’t spelled out this way and perhaps was not even intentional. But it is how it worked.

To read the article on the Newsroom, click here.

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