EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Health
Private Health Insurance Act 2007
Private Health Insurance (Complying Product) Amendment Rules 2014 (No. 1)
Authority
Section 333-20 of the Private Health Insurance Act 2007 (the Act) provides that the Minister may make Private Health Insurance (Complying Product) Rules providing for matters required or permitted by Chapter 3 and/or section 188-1 of the Act, or necessary or convenient in order to carry out or give effect to Chapter 3 and/or section 188-1 of the Act.
The Private Health Insurance (Complying Product) Amendment Rules 2014 (No. 1) (the Amendment Rules) amends Schedule 1, 2, 3 and 4 to Part 3(13) of the Private Health Insurance (Complying Product) Rules 2010 (No. 2) (the Principal Rules) which commenced on 14 January 2011.
Purpose
The purpose of the amendments is to remove references to rebate percentage amounts from the statement about a product subgroup of a complying product.
These amendments are necessary as recent legislative changes impact the payment of the Australian Government rebate on private health insurance. The changes will see the effective rebate paid on private health insurance adjusted annually.
Background
Part 3 of the Principal Rules specifies the permitted content and form to be contained in a statement about the product subgroup of a complying product. Subsection 93-5 of the Private Health Insurance Act 2007 states that the Principle Rules contain the information, and the form, of the standard information statement (SIS). The form for the SIS is provided in Schedule 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Part 3(13)(2) of the Principle Rules prohibit any addition, deletion, rearrangement or modification of the permitted content in the SIS except for a few limited circumstances.
Consultation
Meetings took place with the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman (PHIO), the PHIO Consumer Website Reference Group to discuss the proposed amendments to the SIS. Industry representatives of the PHIO Consumer Website Reference Group were provided with the opportunity to submit feedback to the Department on the proposed amendments. These views were taken into account and discussed with the private health insurance industry at information sessions regarding the broader changes to the rebate. The amendments reflect industry preference regarding the intent of the amendments.
The Amendment Rules commence on 7 February 2014.
The Amendment Rules are a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Authority: Section 333-20 of the
Private Health Insurance Act 2007