Ged Kearney (Cooper, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, I would certainly like to thank the member for Macarthur, the member for Lindsay, the member for Bennelong and the member for Mayo for their wonderful contributions to debate on and for their support of the Private Health Insurance Legislation Amendment (Medical Device and Human Tissue Product List and Cost Recovery Recovery) Bill 2022. We heard from members with a great deal of experience on this, including the member for Macarthur who has years of experience. I thank the member for Lindsay and the member for Mayo for the hard work that they do on this issue and the member for Bennelong who said he's just learning about this issue now. It's good to have him on board.

This package of three bills supports the implementation of the 2021-22 budget measure modernising and improving the private health insurance Prostheses List. These bills represent the first tranche of legislative changes required to fully implement measures that will support modernising and improving the private health insurance Prostheses List. The first bill I introduced was the Private Health Insurance Legislation Amendment (Medical Device and Human Tissue Product List and Cost Recovery Recovery) Bill 2022. The bill inserts definitions of medical devices and human tissue products into the legislation, which will better define the kinds of products that, along with the additional criteria contained in the legislative instrument, will be considered eligible for set benefits from private health insurers. The bill also provides for the renamed Private Health Insurance (Medical Devices and Human Tissue Products) Rules. This new name is reflective of the modernised and amended scope of the legislation. The bill also updates the cost recovery arrangements to support predictable and sustainable fee-for-service arrangements.

The second bill I introduced is the Private Health Insurance (Prostheses Application and Listing Fees) Amendment (Cost Recovery) Bill 2022. This bill provides for levies payable by medical technology sponsors for the listing of medical devices and human tissue products. These levies are essential as they allow my department to administer the listings in a financially sustainable and appropriate manner. The third bill I introduced is the Private Health Insurance (National Joint Replacement Register Levy) Amendment (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2022, which is only machinery in nature and does not change any current requirements or obligations.

These bills will modernise and improve administrative processes and cost recovery arrangements. These long-awaited improvements will assist in keeping downward pressure on private health insurance premiums by reducing the costs associated with medical devices and human tissue products. The results will be improved affordability and attractiveness of private health insurance for consumers.

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