Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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HEALTH INSURANCE (1997-98 GENERAL MEDICAL SERVICES TABLE) REGULATIONS(AMENDMENT) 1997 NO. 397

STATUTORY RULES 1997 No. 397

Issued by authority of the Minister for Health and Family Services

Health Insurance Act 1973

Health Insurance (1997-98 General Medical Services Table) Regulations (Amendment)

The Health Insurance Act 1973 (the Act) in part provides for payments by way of Medicare benefits, payments for hospital services and payments for matters concerning related committees and tribunals.

Section 133 of the Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act.

Section 4 of the Act provides that the Regulations may prescribe a table of medical services (the table), other than diagnostic imaging services and pathology services, that sets out (a) items of medical services (b) the amount of fees applicable in respect of each item and (c) rules for interpretation of the table.

The Health Insurance (1997-1998 Genera] Medical Services Table) Regulations currently prescribe such a table.

This Regulation adds new rules in Part 2 of the Schedule to allow a general practitioner who has been partly disqualified under paragraphs 19B(b) and (d) of the Act from accessing medicare benefits for specified services under subsection 92(4) or paragraph 106U(1)(g) of the Act to access other medicare benefits. This is achieved by specifically including those "partly disqualified" practitioners to the description of the relevant items. Those items are those in Group A2 and items 697 and 698 in Group A11.

Regulation 2.1 amends the Health Insurance (1997-1998 General Medical Services Table) Regulations by amending which medical practitioners may access medicare benefits under all of the Items in Group A2.

Regulations 2.2 and 2.3 make the same amendment to Items 697 and 698 in Group AI 1.

The Regulation will come into effect on gazettal.