Explanatory Statement
Issued by Authority of the Minister for Health and Aged Care
National Health Act 1953
Subsection 5B(5)
(IHS13/1999)
GUIDELINES RELATING TO THE DECLARATION OF DAY HOSPITAL FACILITIES
Subsection 5B(1) of the National Health Act 1953 (the Act) enables the Minister for Health and Aged Care to declare premises to be day hospital facilities for health insurance purposes.
Subsection 5B(5) enables the Minister to make guidelines detailing specific issues that will be taken into consideration when making a declaration under subsection 5B(1).
State health authorities are increasingly turning to the private sector to achieve efficiencies in the area of health care. Section 5B allows the Minister to obtain assurances, where necessary, from the State/Territory and/or provider concerning access, service provision and potential cost shifting.
The guidelines aim to ensure that the interests of public (Medicare) patients are protected under all privatisation arrangements and that there is no unreasonable shift in the cost of day hospital facility treatment from the State/Territory to the Commonwealth and/or health insurance funds and/or patients. They include provision for the following issues to be taken into account:
- will the proposal affect public patient access to a reasonable range of services?
- will it affect the right of all patients to elect to be treated as a public patient?
- will it result in a transfer of costs from the State Government to any other party?
- will data be made available to the Commonwealth to enable the issues raised in the guidelines to be monitored?
Subsection 5B(6) of the Act states that the guidelines are disallowable instruments for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901. Therefore, the guidelines are required to be tabled in both Houses of Parliament and are subject to disallowance by either House.
Notification of the guidelines appeared in the Commonwealth of Australia Government Notices Gazette No. 37 of 15 September 1999. The guidelines came into effect on gazettal.