Explanatory Statement
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Health and Aged Care
Health Insurance Act 1973
Subsection 23EA (5)
(IHS12/1999)
GUIDELINES RELATING TO THE DECLARATION OF PRIVATE HOSPITALS
Subsection 23EA(1) of the Health Insurance Act 1973 (the Act) enables the Minister for Health and Aged Care to declare premises to be private hospitals for health insurance purposes.
Subsection 23EA(5) enables the Minister to make guidelines detailing specific issues that will be taken into consideration when making a declaration under subsection 23EA(1). The
current guidelines were made on 27 September 1995. The guidelines have been update to reflect the current Minister’s signature and replace the existing guidelines.
State health authorities are increasingly turning to the private sector to achieve efficiencies in the area of health care. Section 23EA allows the Minister to obtain assurances, where necessary, from the State/Territory and/or provider concerning access, service provision and potential cost shifting.
The guidelines aim to ensure that the interests of the public (Medicare) patients are protected under all privatisation arrangements and that there is no unreasonable shift in the cost of hospital treatment from the State/Territory to the Commonwealth and/or health insurance
funds and/or patients. They include provision for the following issues to be taken into
account:
- will the proposal affect public patient access to a reasonable range of services?
- will it affect the right of all patients to elect to be treated as a public patient?
- will it result in a transfer of costs from the State Government to any other party?
- will data be made available to the Commonwealth to enable these issues raised in the guidelines to be monitored?
Subsection 23EA(6) of the Act states that the guidelines are disallowable instruments for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts interpretation Act 1901. Therefore, the guidelines are required to be tabled in both Houses of Parliament and are subject to disallowance by either House.
Notification of the guidelines appeared in the Commonwealth of Australia Government Notices Gazette No. 37 of 15 September 1999. The guidelines came into effect on gazettal.