Will NZ benefit from a free trade agreement with the US?

AP Photo / Mark Lennihan

New Zealanders could get quicker access to new and expensive medicines - and the Government's drugs bill could go up - under a free trade deal with the United States.

The US will demand radical changes to New Zealand's anti-competitive drug-funding system as part of the price of a free trade deal, the pharmaceuticals industry says.

Doctors and patients have criticised the system since Pharmac was set up in 1993 as the state's medicines buyer.

Will NZ benefit from a free trade agreement with the US? Here is the latest selection of Your Views: