Health Insurance Amendment Act 1978

(a) by omitting from the definition of “Australian resident” in sub-section (1) all the words after paragraph (b) and substituting “but, where, by virtue of paragraph 251v(1)(e) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936, a person is to be taken to have been a prescribed person for the purposes of Part VIIb of that Act during a particular period, does not include that person in respect of that period”;

(b) by omitting paragraph (b) of the definition of “net operating costs” in sub-section (1);

(c) by inserting in sub-section (1), after the definition of “private patient”, the following definition:

“‘privately insured person’ means a person who is deemed to be a privately insured person for the purposes of this Act by virtue of sub-section (7) of this section, and, where, by virtue of section 5a, a person is to be deemed to be, or to have been, a privately insured person in respect of a period, includes that person in respect of that period;”;

(a) had, or has, adequate coverage against liability to pay medical, hospital or nursing home expenses in respect of himself or his dependants (if any); or

(b) had, or has, an entitlement to the provision of adequate medical, hospital and nursing home care in respect of himself and his dependants (if any),

(a) a declared person shall be deemed to be, or to have been, a privately insured person in respect of any prescribed period that coincides with, or is included in, the declaration period in relation to the person; and

(b) a person who is a dependant of a declared person during the whole of any period that coincides with, or is included in, a prescribed period in relation to the declared person, being a prescribed period that coincides with, or is included in, the declaration period in relation to the declared person, shall be deemed to be, or to have been, a privately insured person in respect of that first-mentioned period.

(a) further information that has come to his notice with respect to the declared person; or

(b) a change that has occurred in the circumstances of the declared person,

(c) the declared person should never have been declared a declared person; or

(d) the declared person should have been declared a declared person in respect of a period (in this sub-section referred to as ‘the revised period’) other than the period specified in the declaration,

(e) revoke the declaration of the declared person; and

(f) where he is satisfied that the person to whom the revoked declaration related should have been declared a declared person in respect of the revised period—make a declaration under sub-section (3) declaring that person to be a declared person for the purposes of this section in respect of the revised period.

‘applicant’ means an applicant under sub-section (1);

‘declaration’ means a declaration made under sub-section (3);

‘declaration period’, in relation to a declared person, means the period specified in the declaration relating to that person;

‘declared person’ means a person who is a declared person for the purposes of this section;

‘period’, in relation to an applicant, does not include any period before 1 July 1978;

‘prescribed period’, in relation to a declared person, means—

(a) any period during which the person is, or was, outside Australia, other than—

(i) a period during which the person, being an officer of the Australian Public Service is, or was, employed at a place outside Australia or is, or was, outside Australia in the course of his duties;

(ii) a period during which the person, being an officer of the Public Service of a State whose conditions of remuneration in respect of service outside Australia are, in the opinion of the Minister, comparable to those of an officer of the Australian Public Service of corresponding status, is, or was, employed at a place outside Australia or is, or was, outside Australia in the course of his duties; or

(iii) a period during which the person is, or was, employed by the Commonwealth, as locally engaged staff, at a place outside Australia and, as such, is, or was, entitled to the provision by the Commonwealth of health care, or to the reimbursement by the Commonwealth of medical and hospital expenses, for himself and his dependants (if any); or

(b) any period during which the person, not being a permanent resident of Australia, is, or was, in Australia.”.

(a) by omitting from paragraph (a) of sub-section (2) “85” and substituting “75”;

(b) by omitting from paragraph (b) of sub-section (2) “$5” (wherever occurring) and substituting “$10”; and

(c) by inserting after sub-section (2) the following sub-section:

(a) a medical benefit under sub-section (1) is payable to an eligible pensioner or a dependant of an eligible pensioner; and

(b) the professional service in respect of which that benefit is payable was rendered in respect of the pensioner or a dependant of the pensioner,

the amount of the medical benefit shall be calculated in accordance with sub-section (2) as if—

(c) the reference in paragraph (2)(a) to 75 per centum were a reference to 85 per centum or such lower percentage (not being lower than 75 per centum) as is prescribed from time to time for the purposes of this paragraph; and

(d) each of the references in paragraph (2)(b) to $10 were a reference to $5 or such higher amount (not being higher than $10) as is prescribed from time to time for the purposes of this paragraph.”.

(a) by omitting sub-paragraph (ii) of paragraph (b) of sub-section (3); and

(b) by omitting from sub-section (3aa) “payable in respect of a pathology service’’.

(a) by inserting in paragraph (a) of sub-section (3) “, other than a person who is not acceptable as a prescribed person for the purposes of this section by virtue of a notice under sub-section (3a)” after “rendered”; and

(b) by inserting after sub-section (3) the following sub-sections:

“(d) an assurance by the optometrist that, where—

(i) a professional service, not being—

(a) a service covered by item 186 that is included in a course of attention to which section 13 applies; or

(b) a service rendered at premises owned by, or in the possession of, the optometrist that are not covered by the undertaking,

(iii) the person to whom the medical benefit is payable in respect of that service is asked whether he wishes to make an assignment under sub-section 20 (3) of his right to the payment of that medical benefit; and

(iv) if that person indicates that he so wishes—

(a) arrangements are made for the making of the assignment under sub-section 20 (3); and

(b) the optometrist accepts the assignment in full payment of the medical expenses in respect of that service;”.

(a) the common form of undertaking in force for the purposes of the Principal Act immediately before the commencement of this section shall, by force of this paragraph, be deemed to have been varied to conform with the requirements of sub-section 23a (2) of the Principal Act, as amended by this section; and

(b) undertakings in relation to participating optometrists in force for the purposes of the Principal Act immediately before the commencement of this section shall, by force of this paragraph, be deemed to have been varied to accord with the common form of undertaking as deemed to have been varied by force of paragraph (a).

(a) approve such hospitals in the Australian Capital Territory as he thinks fit as recognized hospitals for the purposes of this section; and

(b) approve a body corporate established by a law of the Australian Capital Territory as the prescribed hospital authority in relation to those recognized hospitals.

(a) estimates of the payments to be made, during that period, by or on behalf of the recognized hospitals in the Australian Capital Territory, being payments of the kinds provided for in the form;

(b) estimates of the receipts to be received, during that period, by or on behalf of the recognized hospitals in the Australian Capital Territory, being receipts of the kinds provided for in the form; and

(c) the estimated net operating costs of the recognized hospitals in the Australian Capital Territory for that period, being the amount by which the aggregate of the estimates referred to in paragraph (a) exceeds the aggregate of the estimates referred to in paragraph (b).

(a) seek further information from the prescribed hospital authority with respect to any matter relevant to that consideration; and

(b) make any alterations in the budget, or the variations, so submitted.

‘approved budget’ means a budget as approved under section 32;

‘approved net operating costs’, in relation to recognized hospitals for a budget period, means the estimated net operating costs of the hospitals for that period as shown by the approved budget for that period;

‘ budget period’, in relation to an approved budget, means the period to which the budget relates;

‘net operating costs’, in relation to recognized hospitals for a budget period, means the amount by which the operating payments in respect of the hospitals for that period exceed the operating receipts in respect of the hospitals for that period;

‘operating payments’, in relation to recognized hospitals for a budget period, means the payments made, during that period, by or on behalf of the hospitals, being payments of the kinds for which estimates have been made in the approved budget in respect of those hospitals for that period;

‘operating receipts’, in relation to recognized hospitals for a budget period, means the receipts received, during that period, by or on behalf of the hospitals, being receipts of the kinds for which estimates have been made in the approved budget in respect of those hospitals for that period;

‘prescribed hospital authority’ means the prescribed hospital authority for the purposes of section 32;

‘recognized hospital’ means a hospital that is a recognized hospital for the purposes of section 32.

(a) 50 per centum of the approved net operating costs, for that budget period, of the recognized hospitals concerned; or

(b) 50 per centum of the net operating costs, for that budget period, of the recognized hospitals concerned,

(a) section 32 of the Principal Act continues to apply in relation to any period before the commencement of this section; and

(b) an approval of a hospital for the purposes of section 32 of the Principal Act in force immediately before the commencement of this section continues in force after the commencement of this section as if it had been given for the purposes of section 32 of the Principal Act, as amended by this Act.

“hospital agreement”, in relation to a State, means a document purporting to be an agreement entered into before 10 June 1976 by the Commonwealth with the State under section 30 of the Health Insurance Act 1973;

“prescribed sections” means—

(a) section 17 of the Health Insurance Act 1973; and

(b) section 18 of the Health Insurance Act 1973, being the section 18 that commenced on 8 August 1974;

“relevant period” means the period that commenced on 1 July 1975 and ended on 30 September 1976.