Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to give a brief contribution on the Health Legislation Amendment (Medicare Compliance and Other Measures) Bill 2022. This bill amends the Health Insurance Act 1973, the National Health Act 1953 and the Dental Benefits Act 2008 to protect the viability of Medicare. The bill supports the integrity of the Medicare Benefits Schedule, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and the Child Dental Benefits Schedule by addressing inappropriate practice as well as protecting payment integrity, encouraging compliance with claiming requirements and supporting consistency. Medicare, including the Medicare Benefits Schedule and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, provides Australians with access to free hospital care and more-affordable health care and medicines, while the Child Dental Benefits Schedule provides children with access to dental services.

The primary intention of the bill is to strengthen the compliance powers of the Professional Services Review, the PSR, which is the agency responsible for reviewing and examining possible inappropriate practice relating to Medicare or the PBS, and also to add a degree of flexibility to the PSR's ability to address any inappropriate practice. This is the same legislation introduced by the former coalition government in the 46th Parliament via the Health Legislation Amendment (Medicare Compliance and Other Measures) Bill 2021. This legislation formed part of the coalition's commitment to protecting the integrity and financial viability of Medicare. Medicare is there for all Australians and underpins our world-class health system. The former government were stewards in ensuring the viability of Medicare and supporting access to affordable health care for all Australians, having introduced this legislation in the last parliament. The coalition oversaw record investment in Medicare, ensuring that all Australians can access healthcare services no matter where they live. And we were committed to investing $133 billion over four years into Medicare, including $31.4 billion in 2022-23 and an increase of $7.3 billion compared with the 2021-22 budget, $32.3 billion in 2023-24 and $33.9 billion in 2024-25. The coalition will always be committed to supporting the integrity and financial viability of Medicare in ensuring that all Australians have access to our world-class health system into the future.

Once again, the Labor Party are prioritising the passage of one of our bills in recognition that the coalition was a leader when it came to important healthcare policy and improving the sustainability of Australia's world-class health system for the benefit of all Australians.

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian government is committed to protecting the integrity of the Medicare program. Rigorous and effective health provider compliance is a vital component of this commitment. The behaviour of individual practitioners remains a critical focus, but the government is adapting its compliance arrangements for corporations in recognition that they are increasingly involved in and influencing the provision of healthcare services.

The Health Legislation Amendment (Medicare Compliance and Other Measures) Bill 2022 both strengthens and adds flexibility to compliance powers, especially the ability of the Professional Services Review, the PSR, to address the inappropriate practices of corporations. In essence, the bill extends provisions that are currently applicable only to individual practitioners, corporations and other nonpractitioners. The new provisions allow the director to come to an agreement with a body corporate or a nonpractitioner as an alternative to a lengthy review by a committee. This is a valuable and practical addition to the PSR's toolkit, facilitating confidential agreements with corporations while still ensuring that the PSR properly addresses inappropriate practice.

It must be emphasised, however, that while the bill strengthens the compliance arrangements in respect to corporations it also protects practitioners who are employed or otherwise engaged by corporations that acknowledge inappropriate practice. To be clear, individual practitioners will not be named in agreements with corporations. To encourage compliance, the director of the PSR will have discretion as to whether to publish details of the agreement when its terms are not fulfilled. The government's commitment to improve compliance is demonstrated through new sanctions, including civil liberties, to discourage behaviour that interferes with the ability of the PSR to review inappropriate practice and the Commonwealth's ability to recover debts formed in agreement between persons under review and the director. In addition, the director will be able to apply for court orders that require non-responsive corporations to comply with notices to produce information. Another important safeguard protecting the compliance terms negotiated in agreements is the extension of the government's ability to garnishee the bank accounts of persons or corporations that renege on agreements to repay a debt to the Commonwealth.

The bill also clarifies that a referral to the PSR may be made where it appears that there is a possibility that a person may have engaged in inappropriate practice in the provision of services. It is ultimately for the director or a committee to investigate whether a person has provided services and to determine whether the conduct of the person under review in relation to the rendering or initiation of those services amounts to inappropriate practice.

The bill also addresses inconsistencies arising from the introduction of legislation in 2018 to improve debt recovery powers under the Health Insurance Act 1973, the National Health Act 1953 and the Dental Benefits Act 2008. The bill introduces amendments clarifying the application of debt recovery provisions, the use of financial information powers, the recovery of Commonwealth debts from the states, the recovery of interest on Commonwealth debts and the administrative penalties for debts under the Shared Debt Recovery Scheme. Finally, the bill amends the National Health Act 1953 and the Dental Benefits Act 2008 to mirror recent changes to the Health Insurance Act 1973. The December 2020 amendments to the Health Insurance Act 1973 clarify the Commonwealth may recover incorrect payments resulting from the giving of false or misleading information.

I thank senators for their contributions and commend the bill to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.