National Health Act (No. 2) 1975 (Cth)

NATIONAL HEALTH ACT (No. 2) 1975

No. 13 of 1975

An Act to amend the National Health Act 1953-1974, as amended by the National Health Act 1975.

 

BE IT ENACTED by the Queen, the Senate and the House of Representatives of Australia, as follows:—

Short title and citation.

1. (1) This Act may be cited as the National Health Act (No. 2) 1975.

(2) The National Health Act 1953-1974, as amended by the National Health Act 1975, is in this Act referred to as the Principal Act.

(3) Section 1 of the National Health Act 1975 is amended by omitting sub-section (4).

(4) The Principal Act, as amended by this Act, may be cited as the National Health Act 1953-1975.

Commencement.

2. This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.

Interpretation.

3.Section 66 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting from sub-section (1) the definition of “pre-existing ailment” and substituting the following definition:—

“‘pre-existing ailment’, in relation to a contributor, means—

(a) an illness or disability of the contributor in respect of which rules of the organization concerned excluding or limiting eligibility for benefits apply by reason of the fact that symptoms of the illness or disability were in evidence before, or within a specified period after, a particular time; or

(b) pregnancy or other obstetric condition of the contributor in respect of which rules of the organization concerned excluding or limiting eligibility for benefits apply by reason that contributions commenced less than a specified period before the expected date of confinement;”.

Rules of organization establishing special account to contain certain provisions.

4. Section 82e of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by inserting in sub-section (1), after paragraph (d), the following paragraph:—

“(da) a special account contributor in relation to the special account is entitled to payment of fund benefit in respect of a professional service or hospital treatment rendered to her in connexion with a pregnancy or other obstetric condition unless the service or treatment is rendered during a specified period of not more than 2 months commencing on the day on which she became a contributor; and

(b) by omitting from paragraph (e) of sub-section (1) the words “the last preceding paragraph” and substituting the words “paragraph (d) or (da)”.

Waiver of contributions, and reimbursement of fund benefits, where contributor in receipt of unemployment or sickness benefit.

5. Section 82s of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by omitting from sub-section (5) the words “Subject to the next succeeding sub-section, this” and substituting the word “This”; and

(b) by omitting sub-section (6).