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

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Today, I introduce the Health Insurance Amendment (Prescribed Dental Patients and Other Measures) Bill 2023. After nine years of neglect from the former government, the government is committed to improving health care for all Australians.

This bill will strengthen Medicare by making it fair and equitable for young people needing cleft palate and craniofacial procedures. It will also support doctors, nurses and allied health professionals to work in regional and rural communities by:

Schedule 1

Schedule 1 of the bill removes the aged restrictions for patients with eligible cleft and craniofacial conditions through the Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate Scheme.

Cleft and craniofacial services listed on the MBS provide patients and families with much needed financial assistance for major dental and skeletal treatment.

In Australia, about one in every 800 babies is born with a cleft lip or palate, and early medical intervention is critical for improved health outcomes. Persons diagnosed with a cleft or craniofacial condition often require ongoing treatment, particularly during their growth and development years.

This bill proposes changing the Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate Scheme to remove the unfair age restrictions that deny a small cohort of patients a Medicare reimbursement for treatment beyond the age of 22 years. This bill will confer Medicare benefits eligibility to patients who did not have treatment organised by their parents before reaching the age of 22 or those who have their treatment delayed beyond the age of 22 for other reasons, for example due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Age limits for access to the scheme were initially established on the basis that patients suffering cleft and craniofacial conditions would generally have completed most specialist dental work associated with their condition once their facial growth was complete. Age limits for some patients were amended under the Health Insurance Amendment (Professional Services Review and Other Matters) Bill 2002.

A small number of patients, however, continue to be denied access to Medicare benefits for treatment based on age. These changes will provide equity of access to treatment for cleft and craniofacial conditions, by removing the age restrictions currently associated with these services so that access is based on clinical need, in line with other Medicare Benefits Schedule services. This bill will allow for a more structured treatment plan that considers individual patient circumstances.

Schedule 2

Schedule 2 of the bill will support the distribution of a high-quality general practice workforce across Australia by ensuring Services Australia can develop a system to place a doctor on, and remove a doctor from, the Register of Approved Placements.

Through the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) fellowship program and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) fellowship program medical graduates can claim MBS benefits if they have an approved placement entered into the Register of Approved Placement.

Specified bodies like the Department of Health and Aged Care and the general practice colleges are responsible for determining if a doctor is eligible to be placed on the Register of Approved Placements. The specified bodies notify Services Australia of their decision, and Services Australia places doctors on, and removes doctors from, the Register of Approved Placements accordingly.

Currently, the Health Insurance Act 1973 does not allow for this step of the process to be automated through a computer system. This bill enables Services Australia to achieve efficiencies by developing systems that support an automated approach. Specifically, systems to support placing doctors on, and removing doctors from, the Register of Approved Placements once a decision has been made by a specified body. There are over 10,000 placements processed each year.

Schedule Three

Schedule three also supports our government's commitment to grow the health workforce after a decade of neglect by enhancing the administration of the Bonded Medical Program.

The Bonded Medical Program provides a Commonwealth-supported place in a course of study in medicine at an Australian university in exchange for a participant completing a Return of Service Obligation working as a doctor in a regional, rural or remote community.

This Bill will further enhance the administration of the Bonded Medical Program by rectifying inconsistencies between the Health Insurance Act 1973 and the Health Insurance (Bonded Medical Program) Rule 2020, simplifying the length of a bonded participant's return of service obligation.

For the benefit of bonded participants, the bill will also clarify how the return of service obligation will be calculated—as well as support automatic calculation in the Bonded Return of Service System—and ensure that the administrative penalty will only be applied when it is appropriate.

To be specific, this amendment corrects the inconsistency between references to '3 years' and '1 year' in the act and the definitions of how a participant can accrue a 'week' of 'return of service obligation', as outlined in the definitions of a "full-time basis", "part-time basis" and "per-day basis" contained in section 4 of the Health Insurance (Bonded Medical Program) Rule 2020.

Requiring bonded participants to complete their return of service obligation in weeks simplifies the requirement and allows for automated calculation in the Bonded Return of Service System.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Labor Party has a longstanding history of contribution to the legacy of universal health coverage in Australia.

With this Bill, we will make it fair and equitable for young people needing cleft palate and craniofacial procedures, ensuring access to essential health care. We will also make significant administrative improvements to support our health workforce to deliver the care regional and rural communities need.

In doing so, the Australian Government is strengthening Medicare and putting the health of Australians first.

Debate adjourned.