EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Health Insurance Act 1973
Health Insurance (Bone Densitometry) Determination 2009
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Health and Ageing
Background
Subsection 3C(1) of the Health Insurance Act 1973 (the Act) provides that the Minister may, by writing, determine that a health service not listed in the general medical services table (the Table) shall, in specified circumstances and for specified statutory provisions, be treated as if it were so listed. The Table is set out in the Health Insurance (General Medical Services Table) Regulations which are remade each year.
A determination made under subsection 3C(1) of the Act is a legislative instrument (see subsection 3C(4) of the Act and paragraph 6(d) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003).
The Health Insurance (Bone Densitometry) Determination 2009 (‘the Determination’) will revoke and replace the Health Insurance (Bone Densitometry) Determination 2008 (‘the 2008 Determination’).
Health Insurance (Bone Densitometry) Determination 2008
The bone densitometry services specified in the Schedule to the 2008 Determination concerned the provision of bone mineral density tests to patients who already had proven low bone mineral density or who were considered to be at high risk because they had had a fracture after minimal trauma, suffered from a condition that is associated with low bone mineral density such as chronic liver disease, or were on a course of treatment that may cause low bone mineral density.
Health Insurance (Bone Densitometry) Determination 2009
The Determination will replace the 2008 Determination. The purpose of the Determination is to replace the fees with new fees, due to annual indexation. These new fees will be taken to have applied from 1 November 2009.
Subsection 3C(2) of the Act provides that determinations made under subsection 3C(1) of the Act may be expressed to have taken effect from a day earlier than the day on which the determination is made. This determination is taken to have commenced on 1 November 2009.
The effect of the retrospective commencement is to authorise individuals to be paid, from 1 November 2009, Medicare benefits for the specified services with an increased fee, in line with the general fee increase applied to most services in the Table from that date. This does not adversely affect the rights of any person or impose liabilities on any person (other than the Commonwealth or an authority of the Commonwealth) and the retrospective commencement of the determination does not offend subsection 12(2) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Details of the Determination are set out in the Attachment.
Commencement
The Determination is taken to have commenced on 1 November 2009.
Consultation
No consultation was undertaken in the making of the Determination as the changes to the Schedule are minor machinery in nature and do not substantially alter existing arrangements.
ATTACHMENT
Notes on sections
Section 1
Section 1 provides for the name of the Determination.
Section 2
Section 2 provides that the Determination is taken to have commenced on 1 November 2009.
Section 3
Section 3 provides that the Determination revokes the Health Insurance (Bone Densitometry) Determination 2008.
Section 4
Subsection 4(1) defines terms used in the Determination.
A key term is 'relevant service' which means a health service as defined in paragraph 3C(8) of the Act that is specified in the Schedule to the Determination. There are seven such relevant services in the Schedule.
Subsection 4(2) provides that a reference to a provision of an Act or regulations, including the Act, the National Health Act 1953 and the regulations made under these Acts, is a reference to the provision as in force from time to time (as authorised by subsection 3C(3) of the Act).
Section 5
Paragraph 5(a) provides that a relevant service specified in the Schedule to the Determination shall be treated as if it were both a professional service and a medical service for the purposes of the provisions of the Act, the National Health Act 1953 and regulations made under each Act that make provision for medical services or professional services.
Paragraph 5(b) provides that a relevant service specified in the Schedule to the Determination is to be treated as if there were an item in the Table that related to the service and specified a fee in respect of that service, being the fee specified in the Schedule to the Determination in relation to the service.
Schedule
The Schedule sets out the relevant services and assigns to each relevant service the applicable item number, item descriptor and fee.