EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1982 NO.156
ISSUED BY AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH
Health Insurance (Variation of Fees and Medical Services) (No. 24) Regulations
Section 133 of the Health Insurance Act 1973 (‘the Act’) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing all matters required, permitted, necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
Schedule 1 to the Act contains a table of medical services and rules for the interpretation of the table. The table of medical services contains items which set out the description of each medical service and the fees for medical benefits purposes applicable in each State in respect of the service.
Section 4 of the Act provides that the table of medical services, items or rules of interpretation in Schedule 1 to the Act may be varied or replaced by regulations, and that regulations replacing such a table may be amended by regulations.
The Health Insurance (Variation of Fees and Medical Services) (No. 22) Regulations, as amended by subsequent regulations, prescribe a table under Section 4 of the Act.
Section 9 of the Act provides that Commonwealth medical benefits shall be calculated by reference to the fees for medical services set out in the table. The amount of medical benefit paid by a registered medical benefits organization out of its basic medical benefits table in respect of a medical service is also, by virtue of the definition of “guaranteed medical benefit” in sub-section 4(1) of the National Health Act 1953, based on the fees set out in the table.
The statutory rules in amending the Health Insurance (Variation of Fees and Medical Services) (No. 22) Regulations, as amended, give effect to amendments of the table of medical services recommended by the Schedule Revision Committee and approved by the Minister for Health. The Schedule Revision Committee is an advisory body to the Minister for Health consisting of five representatives of the Australian Medical Association and five Commonwealth officers.
The amendments of the table of medical services relate to 180 existing or proposed items. These amendments comprise: the introduction of 48 new items; the deletion of 33 items; the revision of the description of medical service in 54 items; the revision of the description of medical service in, and renumbering of, 13 items; the revision of the description of medical service and fees for medical benefits purposes in 9 items; the revision of the fee for medical benefits purposes only in 13 items; and the renumbering only of 10 items.
The statutory rules came into operation on 1 July 1982.