Medicare Guarantee Fund Bill Passes Through Federal Parliament
Monday 26 June 2017 @ 11.15 a.m. | Legal Research
The Federal Government’s Medicare Guarantee Bill 2017 has passed through both houses of Parliament and is currently awaiting assent. The Bill establishes a “Medicare Guarantee Fund” which the Government has said will “secure the ongoing funding of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)”. The Senate has also passed the Medicare Guarantee (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2017 which makes a number of consequential amendments to the Health Insurance Act 1973 and the National Health Act 1953.
Introducing the Bill into Parliament, Treasurer Scott Morrison said:
“The amounts credited to the Medicare Guarantee Fund will be held in the fund for the sole purpose of meeting the cost of essential health care provided under the MBS and PBS, thereby guaranteeing those important services, those essential services, that Australians rely on and the Turnbull government is guaranteeing.. They will provide transparency about the costs of Medicare and the PBS and a clear guarantee on how we pay for them.
The fund demonstrates the government's commitment to Medicare by ring-fencing revenue for the sole purpose of MBS and PBS spending.
Ring-fencing the revenue in the Medicare Guarantee Fund will increase the public visibility of the costs of these important services, the quantum of revenue generated by the Medicare levy and the additional revenue necessary to meet these costs, which is drawn from the personal income tax base.”
Bill Details
The Medical Guarantee Fund will consist of two accounts: the Medicare Guarantee Fund (Treasury) Special Account (the “Treasury Special Account”) and the Medicare Guarantee Fund (Health) Special Account (the “Health Special Account”).
According to the Explanatory Memorandum, the Treasurer will annually credit the Treasury Special Account with an amount equal to the estimated costs of the MBS and PBS for the next financial year. This will consist of revenue raised from the Medicare levy and income tax receipts. This amount is then transferred to the Health Special Account for the sole purpose of funding the MBS and PBS. The Explanatory Memorandum also says the Treasurer must also credit further amounts to the Treasury Special Account if it’s necessary to cover estimated MBS and PBS payments.
Labor Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen told SBS News they would not be opposing it but felt that the proposal was simply “an accounting trick”:
“We're not going to oppose it, we're going point out the hypocrisy of the government and we're going to point that it's a gimmick ... it doesn't guarantee anything.”
The Medical Guarantee Bill 2017 is scheduled to commence on the day after it receives the Royal Assent. The Bill was passed through the Senate on 20 June 2017 and received assent today (26 June 2017).
The Medicare Guarantee (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2017 also passed the Senate on 20 June 2017 and received assent today (26 June 2017) and the amendments to the health acts will commence when the Health Special Account is credited.
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Sources:
Medicare Guarantee Bill 2017 & Medicare Guarantee (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2017, Explanatory Memorandum and Second Reading Speech available from TimeBase's LawOne Service
