Date published:
PHI circular type:
PHI announcement
Audience:
Health sector
The Private Health Insurance Legislation Amendment Rules (No. 6) 2022 (the Amendment Rules) amend the:
- Private Health Insurance (Benefit Requirements) Rules 2011 (the Benefit Requirements Rules) and
- Private Health Insurance (Complying Product) Rules 2015 (the Complying Product Rules).
The Amendment Rules were registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 30 June 2022 and commence on 1 July 2022.
The Amendment Rules amend the Benefit Requirements Rules to:
- increase the minimum benefit payable by private health insurers for private patients’ overnight and same-day accommodation in both private and public hospitals. The increase is in line with the annual increase to March 2022 in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 5.1 per cent;
- index the monetary qualifiers for the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) items included in Type A procedure patient classifications for “advanced surgical patient” and “surgical patient”. The increases are in line with annual indexation of the MBS fees of 1.6 per cent from 1 July 2022; and
- increase the minimum benefits payable by private health insurers for private nursing‑home type patients’ (NHTPs) accommodation in public hospitals in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), New South Wales (NSW) and South Australia.
The Amendment Rules amend the Complying Product Rules to increase the daily patient contribution payable by NHTPs for accommodation in public hospitals in the ACT and NSW.
Further details on the amendments are included in the Explanatory Statement accompanying the Amendment Rules available on the Federal Register of Legislation at www.legislation.gov.au by searching ‘Private Health Insurance Legislation Amendment Rules (No. 6) 2022’.