EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Health Insurance Act 1973
Health Insurance (Gippsland, Rockhampton and Gladstone Mobile MRI Service) Amendment Determination 2014
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Health
Authority
Subsection 3C(1) of the Health Insurance Act 1973 (the Act) provides that the Minister may determine in writing that a health service not listed in the Diagnostic Imaging 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 (Diagnostic Imaging Services Table) Regulation 2014 (the DIST Regulation) which is remade each year.
Purpose
The Health Insurance (Gippsland, Rockhampton and Gladstone Mobile MRI Service) Determination 2014 (No. 1) (Mobile MRI Determination) enables Medicare eligible mobile MRI services to be provided in Gippsland, Rockhampton and Gladstone until 30 June 2015.
The purpose of the Health Insurance (Gippsland, Rockhampton and Gladstone Mobile MRI Service) Amendment Determination 2014 (the Determination) is to make amendments to the Mobile MRI Determination so that MRI scans for Crohn’s disease can be provided by Medicare eligible mobile MRI services in Gippsland, Rockhampton and Gladstone. The Determination introduces a set of three specific items relating to MRI scans for Crohn’s disease. Three corresponding capital sensitivity items are included to provide a reduced rebate for services provided on equipment that is more than 10 years old.
Background
In April 2014, the Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) recommended the addition of three new Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) items (along with three corresponding half-rebate alternatives for services performed on older equipment) for MRI scans for Crohn’s disease. This Determination provides the authority for the items to be available to Medicare eligible mobile MRI services in Gippsland, Rockhampton and Gladstone.
Details of the Determination are set out in the Attachment.
This Determination commences on 1 November 2014.
This Determination is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Consultation
The Department consulted with key stakeholders via MSAC’s standard Protocol Advisory Sub-Committee (PASC) process. PASC noted that the responses were positive and supportive and that the potential disadvantages are few (only that some patients experience claustrophobia with MRI).
ATTACHMENT
Details of the Health Insurance (Gippsland, Rockhampton and Gladstone Mobile MRI Service) Amendment Determination 2014
1 Name of Determination
Section 1 states that the name of the Determination is the Health Insurance Gippsland, Rockhampton and Gladstone Mobile MRI Service) Amendment Determination 2014.
2 Commencement
Section 2 states that the Determination commences on 1 November 2014.
3 Authority
Section 3 provides that the Determination is made under the Act.
4 Amendment of Health Insurance (Gippsland, Rockhampton and Gladstone Mobile MRI Service) Determination 2014 (No. 1)
Section 4 provides that Schedule 1 amends the Health Insurance (Gippsland, Rockhampton and Gladstone Mobile MRI Service) Determination 2014 (No. 1) (Mobile MRI Determination).
Schedule
[1] Section 3
Item [1] amends section 3 of the Mobile MRI Determination so that the Mobile MRI Determination will be repealed in addition to ceasing to have effect at 23:59 on 30 June 2015.
[2] Paragraph 5(1)(a)
Item [2] amends paragraph 5(1)(a) of the Mobile MRI Determination to insert a reference to the new item numbers into the list of items that apply to Gippsland Mobile MRI Services provided certain conditions are met.
[3] Paragraph 5AA(1)(a)
Item [3] amends paragraph 5AA(1)(a) of the Mobile MRI Determination to insert a reference to the new item numbers into the list of items that apply to Rockhampton and Gladstone Mobile MRI Services provided certain conditions are met.
[4] Section 7
Item [4] inserts a reference to the new item numbers into the list of items where clause 2.5.7 of the DIST Regulation is taken to apply. Clause 2.5.7 of the DIST Regulations provides a definition of the word ‘scan’ for the purposes of certain items for MRI services.
[5] Schedule – Specified health services
Item [5] amends the Schedule of the Mobile MRI Determination to insert the new items relating to MRI scans for Crohn’s disease.
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Health Insurance (Gippsland, Rockhampton and Gladstone Mobile MRI Service) Amendment Determination 2014
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 purpose of the Health Insurance (Gippsland, Rockhampton and Gladstone Mobile MRI Service) Amendment Determination 2014 (the Determination) is to amend the Health Insurance (Gippsland, Rockhampton and Gladstone Mobile MRI Service) Determination 2014 (No. 1) to introduce a set of six specific items relating to MRI scans for Crohn’s disease.
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.
This Determination gives access to affordable MRI services for Crohn’s disease through subsidisation.
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.