The first version of MediSim was completed in 1998. Since then, the model has been developed in successive stages, up to the most current, MediSim version 04-05.The construction of the current version of MediSim was supported by an Australian Research Council linkage grant (LP0219571), and by Medicines Australia, the Partner Organisation to this grant.
MediSim simulates, at the level of the individual and the family, the current and future use and costs of PBS medicines under existing and different policy settings. It also estimates the distributional effects of policy changes.
One of the key features of MediSim is to enable researchers to quantify the use and cost of PBS medicines under different policy settings, and determine the distributional effect of such policy changes. It could be used to measure the impact of changes in other model parameters such as medicine prices or supply, or demographic changes (such as population ageing). A recent research project conducted by NATSEM for Medicines Australia was to model and quantify the distributional impact of various changes to the rules of the PBS, including differential co-payments, a means-based system of co-payments, among others.
The model is maintained and used in-house by NATSEM's MediSim team.
Contact: Laurie Brown
Phone: +61 2 6201 2770
Email: laurie.brown@natsem.canberra.edu.au
