EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1983 NO. 230
ISSUED BY AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH
HEALTH INSURANCE ACT 1973
HEALTH INSURANCE (VARIATION OF FEES AND
MEDICAL SERVICES) (NO. 29) 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 26) 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 of medical services in Schedule 1 to the Act. The amount of medical benefit paid by a registered medical benefits organization under its basic medical benefits table in respect of a medical service is also, arising from 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. After amendments made by the Health Legislation Amendment Act 1983 (Act No. 54, Assented to on 1 October 1983), Medicare benefits will be payable in place of these other benefits and they will also be calculated by reference to the table of medical services.
The statutory rules in amending the Health Insurance (Variation of Fees and Medical Services) (No. 26) Regulations, as amended, give effect to amendments of the table of medical services recommended
by the Schedule Revision Committee and agreed to by the Minister for Health. That Committee is an advisory body consisting of five representatives of the Australian Medical Association and five Commonwealth officers who advise the Minister for Health.
The amendments of the table of medical services relate to 113 existing or proposed items. These amendments involve: the introduction of 19 new items; the deletion of 10 items; the revision of the fee for medical benefits purposes in 7 items; and the revision of the description of medical service in 77 items. The statutory rules effect the inclusion in the table of medical services of four other new items relating to specialist and non-specialist pathology, radiology and surgery. The new items contain more generalised descriptions of medical service which can be applied where a particular medical service does not correspond to a more precise description in another item of the table of medical services.
The statutory rules came into operation on 1 November 1983.