National Health Amendment Regulations 1999 (No. 8) 1999 No. 289
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1999 No. 289
Issued by authority of the Minister for Health and Aged Care
National Health Act 1953
National Health Amendment Regulations 1999 (No. 8)
Section 140 of the National Health Act 1953 (the Act) allows the Governor-General to make regulations prescribing matters that are required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or that are necessary and convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act,
Paragraph 73BE(1)(e) of the Act empowers the Minister to give a direction to a registered organisation with respect to any matter that is prescribed.
Paragraph 135A(3)(b) empowers the Secretary of the Department of Health and Aged Care to divulge information of a kind specified in regulations to a prescribed authority or person. This operates as an exception to the general obligation to observe secrecy in respect of any information concerning the affairs of a third person contained in subsection 135A(1) of the Act.
The amending regulations:
* provide that, for the purposes of paragraph 73BE(1)(e) of the Act, the Minister may give a direction to a registered organisation with respect to discounted rates of contribution; and
* provide that, for the purposes of subparagraph 135A(3)(b)(i) of the Act, the Private Health Insurance
Administration Council (PHIAC) is a prescribed authority; and
* specify, for the purposes of subparagraph 135A(b)(ii) of the Act, the type of information that can be provided to PHIAC and the purposes for which it can be used.
The amending regulations contain machinery provisions necessary to administer the new discounting provisions which commenced on 20 October 1999. The discounting provisions were contained in the Health Legislation Amendment Act (No. 2) 1999 (the Amending Act).
Details of the amending regulations are set out in the Attachment.
The Regulations commenced on gazettal.
ATTACHMENT
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Regulation 1 provides that the Regulations may be cited as the National Health Amendment Regulations 1999 (No. 8).
Regulation 2 provides that the Regulations commence on gazettal.
Regulation 3 provides that Schedule 1 amends the National Health Regulations 1954.
Item 1 of Schedule 1 inserts a new regulation 49C. Regulation 49C, together with section 73BE of the Act, allows the Minister to issue a direction to a registered organisation in relation to premium discounting.
Subregulation 49C(i) makes it clear that a direction can relate to either:
* pre-existing discounts, that is, discounts which were in place before the commencement of the new discounting provisions on 20 October 1999 and referred to in the savings provision contained in section 3 of Schedule 1 of the Amending Act; or
* discounts permitted by the Amending Act that come into effect after 20 October 1999.
Subregulation 49C(2) defines the term "discounted rate of contribution" to include:
* any commissions. brokerage fees, incentive payments, inducements or other sums payable on behalf of the contribution group as an incentive for that contribution group to take out the product; and
* indirect inducements such as the waiver of an excess or copayment. Where a contributor purchases a product that includes a claims excess or a daily copayment for hospital treatment, and where that excess or copayment is later waived, the health fund must take into account the difference between the premium paid for the product with an excess or copayment and the premium that would be paid for a comparable product with no excess or copayment when determining the discount given.
Item 2 of Schedule 1 inserts new regulations 52A and 52B. Regulation 52A provides that PHIAC is a prescribed authority for the purposes of subparagraph 135A (3) (b) (i) of the Act. Regulation 52B lists the information that may be passed to PHIAC and the purposes for which it can be used. These regulations will permit the Department of Health and Aged Care to pass information on discounts to PHIAC so that the Council may provide analysis and advice to the Minister for the purposes of its functions under subsection 82G(1) of the Act.