Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Finance, Charities and Electoral Matters) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I table additional information concerning a question without notice asked on 24 July 2019 relating to the Medicare compliance matters, and seek leave to have the document incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The statement read as follows—

Dear Mr President

Further to my answer during Question Time in the Senate on 24 July 2019 relating to Medicare compliance matters, I wish to table the following information provided to me by the Department of Health.

Compliance activities undertaken by the Department of Health (the department) do not lead directly to the deregistration of practitioners. Disqualification from providing health services is managed by professional bodies such as the Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Agency.

During 2017-18 the Determining Authority of the Professional Services Review made 17 final determinations, which included:

Medicare Participation Review Committees are established on a case by case basis to determine whether a healthcare practitioner should be suspended from billing Medicare for a period of up to five years.

In the past two years, MPRCs have considered two matters involving practitioners who were convicted of criminal conduct and received a custodial sentence. The department is prevented from providing further information about these cases by secrecy provisions in the legislation.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Colbeck