Health ref. no. 825
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT
HEALTH INSURANCE ACT 1973
Health Insurance (Eligible persons – Persons from Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories who are holders of a Bridging Visa E (Subclass 050 and Subclass 051) with work rights and their immediate family members on a Bridging Visa E) Revocation Order 2025
I, Nigel Murray, Assistant Secretary, MBS Policy and Specialist Programs Branch, Medicare Benefits and Digital Health Division, Health Resourcing Group, delegate for the Minister for Health and Ageing, for the purposes of subsection 6(1) of the Health Insurance Act 1973 hereby:
- REVOKE the Health Insurance (Eligible persons – Persons from Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories who are holders of a Bridging Visa E (Subclass 050 and Subclass 051) with work rights and their immediate family members on a Bridging Visa E) Order 2024, made on 5 August 2024.
- This Order commences on 1 July 2025.
Dated 11 June 2025
Nigel Murray
Assistant Secretary
MBS Policy and Specialist Programs Branch
Medicare Benefits and Digital Health Division
Health Resourcing Group
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
ATTACHMENT - STATEMENT OF REASONS
Health Insurance Act 1973
Class Order under Subsection 6(1)
ORDER NO: 825
DATE OF ORDER: 11 June 2025
RELATED ORDERS: Individual order: 823
NAME OF PERSON/GROUP: Persons from Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories who are holders of a Bridging Visa E (Subclass 050 and Subclass 051) with work rights and their immediate family members on a Bridging Visa E
REASON FOR APPROVAL:
This temporary measure was designed to support the affected cohort and their families to access Medicare and was introduced prior to the announcement of the temporary humanitarian stay visa pathway for eligible Palestinian and Israeli temporary visa holders in Australia. The temporary humanitarian stay pathway provides a more comprehensive range of social and settlement supports than the Bridging Visa E and also includes Medicare access (for Temporary Humanitarian Concern (subclass 786) visa holders only).
A Bridging Visa E is a short term bridging visa that allows eligible individuals to stay in Australia lawfully while they resolve their immigration status by obtaining a substantive visa or making arrangements to depart Australia.
There is no time limit on when a person can submit a late patient claim for Medicare benefits. Should an individual or their representative lodge a Medicare claim for a service rendered during the period of eligibility under a revoked Minister Order, subject to any other claiming requirements for the service, the claim will be processed and paid.