EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Health
Private Health Insurance Act 2007
Private Health Insurance (Accreditation) Amendment Rules 2019
Authority
Section 333-20 of the Private Health Insurance Act 2007 (the Act) provides that the Minister may make Private Health Insurance (Accreditation) Rules providing for matters required or permitted by Section 81-1 of the Act, or necessary or convenient to be provided in order to carry out or give effect to Section 81-1 of the Act.
Purpose
The purpose of the Private Health Insurance (Accreditation) Amendment Rules 2019 (the Amendment Rules) is to amend the Private Health Insurance (Accreditation) Rules 2011 (the Principal Rules) to repeal subrule 7(3) which no longer has effect, and to update the reference to the Health Insurance Regulations as a consequence of the repeal of the Health Insurance Regulations 1975 and commencement of Health Insurance Regulations 2018 from 1 October 2018.
The Amendment Rules amend the Principal Rules by repealing subrule 7(3) which ceased to have effect on 1 January 2013.
The Amendment Rules also amend the Principal Rules by updating the reference to the Health Insurance Regulations in subrule 9(1) to section 12 of the Health Insurance Regulations 2018. This is a consequential amendment to preserve existing arrangements.
Details of the Amendment Rules are set out in the Attachment.
Background
Section 81-1 of the Act provides that an insurance policy meets the quality assurance requirements in Division 81 of the Act if the policy prohibits the payment of private health insurance benefits for a treatment that does not meet the standards in the Private Health Insurance (Accreditation) Rules. An insurance policy must meet the quality assurance requirements in Division 81 where it is offered by a private health insurer as a complying health insurance policy in accordance with section 63-10 of the Act.
Consultation
No consultation was undertaken because the changes are administrative in nature and preserve existing arrangements.
The Amendment Rules commence on the day after the instrument is registered.
The Amendment Rules are a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003.
ATTACHMENT
DETAILS OF THE PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE (ACCREDITATION) AMENDMENT RULES 2019
Section 1 Name of Rules
Section 1 provides that the title of the instrument is the Private Health Insurance (Accreditation) Amendment Rules 2019 (the Amendment Rules).
Section 2 Commencement
Section 2 provides that the Amendment Rules commence on the day after registration.
Section 3 Authority
Section 3 provides that the Amendment Rules are made under item 5 of the table in section 333-20 of the Private Health Insurance Act 2007.
Section 4 Schedules
Section 4 provides that each instrument specified in the Schedule of the Amendment Rules is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.
Schedule 1 – Amendments
Item 1 of Schedule 1 amends the Private Health Insurance (Accreditation) Rules 2011 by repealing subrule 7(3) which ceased to have effect on 1 January 2013.
Item 2 of Schedule 1 amends the Private Health Insurance (Accreditation) Rules 2011 by updating the reference to the Health Insurance Regulations to section 12 of the Health Insurance Regulations 2018.