Bill
Health Insurance Amendment (Professional Services Review Scheme No. 2) Bill 2023
passed, as at 2023-11-24. Health and Aged Care portfolio.
- Sponsor
- Not recorded
- Portfolio
- Health and Aged Care
Recorded stages
- introduced — 2023-10-19
- second reading — 2023-10-19
- other — 2023-11-14
- second reading — 2023-11-14
- second reading — 2023-11-14
- other — 2023-11-15
- third reading — 2023-11-15
- introduced — 2023-11-15
- second reading — 2023-11-15
- second reading — 2023-11-17
- second reading — 2023-11-17
- third reading — 2023-11-17
- passed — 2023-11-17
- royal assent — 2023-11-24
Divisions
No divisions recorded. Most questions are decided on the voices; this does not establish that a bill was unopposed.
Plain-language summary
Written by a model from the explanatory memorandum; not the record, as at 2023-10-19.
This bill would strengthen how the Professional Services Review (PSR) investigates and addresses inappropriate Medicare practice.
It would change rules for committee members' qualifications, clarify that the PSR can review unregistered practitioners, and let the PSR Director extend the 12-month decision timeframe when a person under review leaves Australia or court proceedings are ongoing.
The bill responds to the Philip Review's April 2023 recommendation to update the Medicare legislative framework.
- Align requirements for committee members' qualifications with the Health Insurance Act and clarify how to apply them.
- Make it clear that references to a practitioner include those not currently registered.
- Require a person under review to provide a medical certificate if they cannot attend a hearing for medical reasons.
- Give the PSR Director power to extend the 12-month statutory timeframe for deciding a matter when the person under review leaves Australia or there are ongoing court proceedings.
Health practitioners under review by the PSR, PSR committee members, and the PSR Director.
Sources
em
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frl act