The Chemist Warehouse merger is a sideshow – pharmacies are ripe for an ‘Uber’ moment

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True competition is hard to find among dispensaries but the government could allow unlimited discounting if it wasn’t worried about a backlash from owners

A 2017 inquiry found instance after instance of all of the pharmacies in a town being owned by the same group, even where the branding was different and they seemed to be competing.A 2017 inquiry found instance after instance of all of the pharmacies in a town being owned by the same group, even where the branding was different and they seemed to be competing.

examined pharmacy remuneration and regulation in 2017 it found instance after instance of all of the pharmacies in a town beingIn Alice Springs all four were owned by the same group; in Karratha both were; in Broome the proportion was three out of the four. If a competitor can’t come in and all the pharmacies in a particular location don’t compete, there’s little reason to expect them to discount. And most don’t, even though for the past eight years they have been able to.Back when King produced his report and the government paid pharmacies an average of $11.50 per prescription, King’s team reckoned their actual average dispensing costs were lower, for some as low asChemist Warehouse pharmacies discounted by the full dollar. Few others did.

That’s how it was for years with taxis. The price of rides was high and the service was limited because of rules that choked competition.

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