EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
National Health Act 1953
National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Regulations (Amendment)
Apart from section 140 of the National Health Act 1953 (the Act), which provides that the Governor-General may make Regulations for the purposes of the Act, certain other provisions in the Act also specifically provide for matters to be prescribed by regulation. Paragraph 105(a) of the Act provides that the regulations may prescribe the terms and conditions subject to which pharmaceutical benefits may be supplied.
The Social Welfare Legislation (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Amendment Act 1990 (the Amendment Act) alters the current Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Safety Net whereby persons who purchase more than 25 pharmaceutical benefits per year at the general rate of $11 may, by applying for a Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Entitlement Card, receive pharmaceutical benefits free for the remainder of the year. Under this Scheme, concessional beneficiaries pay $2.50 for each of the 25 prescriptions while pensioners receive all pharmaceutical benefits free. The new Scheme, put into place by the Amendment Act, substitutes a graduated monetary Safety Net limit for the existing numerical limit of 25 pharmaceutical benefits per year. The concessional pharmaceutical benefits rate will remain at $2.50. Pensioners will now be included in this class of beneficiary, and no longer receive pharmaceutical benefits free of charge.
The amendments make a number of changes to the National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Regulations consequential on changes to the Scheme contained in the the Amendment Act. The amendment to regulation 9B reflects the new monetary Safety Net limits by replacing the “number of prescriptions” with the “value of the pharmaceutical benefits”. Other amendments are consequential on definitional changes effected by the Amendment Act and eliminate references to pensioners as a separate category of pharmaceutical beneficiary.
Regulations 9C, 9D and 9E have been replaced with regulations which set out the procedures contained in the existing Regulations in a more logical manner.