EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Health Insurance Act 1973
Health Insurance (Bone Densitometry) Determination 2012
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Health and Ageing
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) Regulation which is remade each year.
The Health Insurance (Bone Densitometry) Determination 2012 (‘the Determination’) revokes and replaces the Health Insurance (Bone Densitometry) Determination 2011 (‘the 2011 Determination’), increasing the fees for services due to annual indexation. These changes will apply from 1 November 2012.
The services specified in the Schedule to the Determination concern the provision of bone mineral density tests to patients who already have proven low bone mineral density or who are considered to be at high risk because they have had a fracture after minimal trauma, suffer from a condition that is associated with low bone mineral density such as chronic liver disease, or are on a course of treatment that may cause low bone mineral density.
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 Determination commences on 1 November 2012.
Consultation
No consultation was undertaken in the making of the Determination as the changes to the Schedule are minor and machinery in nature and do not substantially alter existing arrangements.
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Health Insurance (Bone Densitometry) Determination 2012
This Legislative Instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
Overview of the Legislative Instrument
The Health Insurance (Bone Densitometry) Determination 2012 revokes and replaces the Health Insurance (Bone Densitometry) Determination 2011.
The purpose of the Health Insurance (Bone Densitometry) Determination 2012 is to replace the fees in the Health Insurance (Bone Densitometry) Determination 2011 with increased fees, due to the annual indexation typically applied to Medicare services (other than pathology and diagnostic imaging services).
The services specified in the Schedule to the Determination concern the provision of bone mineral density tests to patients who already have proven low bone mineral density or who are considered to be at high risk because they have had a fracture after minimal trauma, suffer from a condition that is associated with low bone mineral density such as chronic liver disease, or are on a course of treatment that may cause low bone mineral density.
Human rights implications
The right to health
The right to health – the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health – is contained in article 12(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (the Committee) has stated that health is a ‘fundamental human right indispensable for the exercise of other human rights’, and that the right to health is not to be understood as a right to be healthy, but rather entails a right to a system of health protection which provides equality of opportunity for people to enjoy the highest attainable level of health.
Right to Social Security
The right to social security is contained in article 9 of the ICESCR. The right requires that a country must, within its maximum available resources, ensure access to a social security scheme that provides a minimum essential level of benefits to all individuals and families that will enable them to acquire at least essential health care. Countries are obliged to demonstrate that every effort has been made to use all resources that are at their disposal in an effort to satisfy, as a matter of priority, this minimum obligation.
The Committee has stated that the notion of ‘the highest attainable standard of health’ takes into account both the conditions of the individual and the country’s available resources. The right may be understood as a right of access to a variety of public health and health care facilities, goods, services, programs and conditions necessary for the realisation of the highest attainable standard of health.
The Committee has also stated that with respect to the right to social security that the qualifying conditions for benefits must be reasonable, proportionate and transparent.
There is no incompatibility with the right to health or social security because the legislation is for a legitimate objective and reasonable, necessary and proportionate in the circumstances.
Conclusion
This Legislative Instrument is compatible with human rights as it has a positive effect on human rights issues.
Richard Bartlett
First Assistant Secretary
Medical Benefits Division