Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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HEALTH INSURANCE (GENERAL MEDICAL SERVICES TABLE) AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2000 (NO. 1) 2000 NO. 356

STATUTORY RULES 2000 No. 356

Issued by authority of the Minister for Health and Aged Care

Health Insurance Act 1973

Health Insurance (General Medical Services Table) Amendment Regulations 2000 (No. 1)

Section 133 of the Health Insurance Act 19 73 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing all matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.

Section 4 of the Act provides that the regulations may prescribe a table of medical services (other than diagnostic imaging services and pathology services). The Health Insurance (General Medical Services Table) Regulations 2000 (the GMST Regulations) currently prescribe such a table.

Section 9 of the Act provides that Medicare benefits shall be calculated by reference to the fees for medical services set out in the table.

The Health Insurance (General Medical Services Table) Amendment Regulations 2000 (No. 1) allow services provided by an eligible non-vocationally recognised medical practitioner under the Rural Other Medical Practitioners Program (Rural OMPs Program) to be classified as Group AI attendances, as outlined in the Schedule 1 of the GMST Regulations. This addition to the GMST regulations is in line with the Government's intent to recognise the value of services provided by non-vocationally registered doctors in rural and remote areas of Australia.

The Rural OMPs Program, administered by the Health Insurance Commission, will extend the full Medicare rebate to general practitioner services provided by medical practitioners in category 4-7 areas of the Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Area Classification, where the medical practitioner expresses an interest in undertaking an alternative pathway to vocational recognition.

Categories 4-7 are defined as small rural centres, other rural areas, remote centres and other remote areas, all of which have a population base of less than 25,000 people. Registration for the Rural OMPs Program will be required by August 2001 and the alternative pathway to vocational recognition will need to be completed within four years.

Currently, the only avenue for obtaining vocational registration is through the Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. The development of alternative and flexible pathways recognises the special needs of doctors in rural areas, is consistent with Government policy aimed at attracting and retaining doctors in rural areas and will maintain the high level of standards currently in place for vocational registration.

Services provided by these medical practitioners will be able to attract the full Medicare rebate from 1 January 2001, the same rate as for services provided by practitioners who are vocationally registered under section 3F of the Act. To do this it was necessary to amend the definition of "general practitioner" which appears in Schedule 1, Part 1 of the Rules of Interpretation of the GMST Regulations.

Details of the Regulations are set out in the Attachment.

The Regulations commence on 1 January 2001.

ATTACHMENT

Details of the Regulations

Regulation 1 provides that the Regulations may be cited as the Health Insurance (General Medical Services Table) Amendment Regulations 2000 (No. 1).

Regulation 2 provides that the Regulations will commence on 1 January 2001.

Regulation 3 provides that the Health Insurance (General Medical Services Table) Regulations 2000 (the GMST Regulations) are amended by Schedule 1.

Schedule 1 outlines the amendments to the GMST Regulations:

*       Item 1 inserts an additional clause in the definition of general practitioner to be considered for the purposes of the GMST Regulations.

*       Item 2 provides additional clauses to define eligible non-vocationally recognised medical practitioners, the Rural Remote and Metropolitan Areas Classification and the Rural Other Medical Practitioners Program for the purposes of the GMST Regulations.