Explanatory Memorandum
(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Health and Ageing, the Honourable Tony Abbott MP)PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE (PROSTHESES APPLICATION AND LISTING FEES) BILL 2006
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1 Short title
This clause sets out the short title of the Bill.
Clause 2 Commencement
This clause provides that the Bill commences at the same time as the proposed Private Health Insurance Act.
Clause 3 Imposition of application fees
This clause provides that the Private Health Insurance (Prostheses Application and Listing Fee) Rules may specify the application fee for applications made under section 72-10 of the proposed Private Health Insurance Act, and imposes the fee as a tax.
Clause 4 Imposition of listing fees
This clause provides that the Private Health Insurance (Prostheses Application and Listing Fee) Rules may specify the initial listing fee and ongoing listing fee for the purposes of sections 72-10 and 72-15 respectively of the proposed Private Health Insurance Act, and imposes the fees as a tax. The Rules may specify up to two days in any period of twelve months as ongoing listing fee imposition days.
Clause 5 Matters relating to application fees and listing fees
Subclause (1 ) provides for the Private Health Insurance (Prostheses Application and Listing Fee) Rules to specify different application fees under subclause 3(1), initial listing fees under subclause 4(1) or ongoing listing fees under subclause 4(3) for different circumstances.
Subclauses (2) and (3 ) sets maximum amount for an application, initial listing fee or ongoing listing fee as $2,000 in the financial year in which this Bill commences, and provide for the maximum amount of a fee in a later financial year to be worked out under clause 6.
Subclause (4 ) provides that the amount of a fee may be nil.
Subclause (5 ) provides that the fees do not have to bear any relationship to the cost of services provided.
Clause 6 Indexation of maximum fees
Subclause (1 ) provides for calculating a fee under clause 5 by multiplying the indexation factor for the financial year by the maximum amount of the fee in relation to the previous financial year.
Subclause (2 ) defines the index number, for the quarter, as the All Groups Consumer Price Index number and calculates the indexation factor for the financial year as the sum of the index numbers for the quarters in the year ending on the previous 31 March divided by the sum of the index numbers for the quarters in the year ending on 31 March just before the start of the relevant financial year.
Subclause (3 ) provides that if the indexation factor for the financial year worked out under subclause (2) is 1 or less, then the maximum amount of an application fee or listing fee for an application made in the financial year is the previous year's maximum.
Clause 7 Person liable for fee
Subclause (1 ) provides that a person who makes an application under section 72-10 of the proposed Private Health Insurance Act is liable to pay the application fee at the time the application is made. Subclause (2 ) provides that if the Minister grants the application, the person who made the application is liable to pay the listing fee for the application when informed of the Minister's decision and the ongoing listing fee on each subsequent ongoing listing fee imposition day.
Subclause (3 ) provides that if a prosthesis was listed in the Rules in accordance with the section 12 of the Transitional and Consequential Bill, the person who was a sponsor of that prosthesis under the National Health Act 1953 is liable to pay the ongoing listing fee.
Clause 8 Private Health Insurance (Prostheses Application and Listing Fee) Rules
This clause provides that the Minister may, by legislative instrument, make Private Health Insurance (Prostheses Application and Listing Fee) Rules for the purposes of this Act.
Clause 9 Regulations
This clause provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing matters necessary or convenient for the purposes of carrying out or giving effect to this Act.