Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

In summing up this Private Health Insurance Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2014, I would like to thank all of the members for their contributions to the debate.

The purpose of the private health insurance amendment bill is twofold. The bill will transfer the functions of the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman to the office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman by amending both the Private Health Insurance Act 2007 and the Ombudsman Act 1976, as of 1 July 2015. The bill will also amend the Private Health Insurance Act 2007 to repeal provisions that were left over from the base premium indexation arrangements. The consolidation of these functions will reduce duplication, improve coordination and increase efficiency in the delivery of the Ombudsman's services to the community. Importantly, there is expected to be no impact upon the services provided to policy holders. The Private Health Insurance Ombudsman will continue to provide education and advice to consumers as well as assist in resolving private health insurance complaints.

I would like to take this opportunity to provide further clarification on some matters raised during debate in this chamber, specifically those raised by the member for Ballarat. The member for Ballarat has raised concerns that the capacity for the subject of a complaint, in most cases an insurer or private hospital, to request additional time to report back to the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman about a complaint will not be transferred to the Commonwealth Ombudsman. This provision has been removed to ensure consistency with the Ombudsman Act 1976 and to provide efficiencies by streamlining the administrative processes of the Commonwealth Ombudsman. It should be noted that, in doing so, these changes should benefit consumers by potentially providing faster resolutions to complaints, as those organisations that have been complained about will now be required to report within the set time frames, without the ability for delays or extension.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman is an independent statutory office holder and is not subject to direction by anyone on how complaints are to be managed. This is consistent with the approach taken for other industry ombudsmen created under the Ombudsman Act 1976, and ensures that complaints are free from political interference. For this reason, the power enabling me, the Minister for Health, to intervene where the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman decides not to investigate a complaint has not been transferred to the Commonwealth Ombudsman in the interests of maintaining this important independence. Further, I note that this power to intervene has never been used by me or any of my predecessors. Additionally, the provision enabling me to request that the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman undertake an investigation has not been transferred to the Commonwealth Ombudsman for the same reasons of independence. However, it must be made clear that this does not preclude any person, including myself or any parliamentarian, from raising concerns with the Commonwealth Ombudsman for their consideration.

With regard to the questions raised by those opposite about sufficient resourcing after the transfer, I am pleased to inform those opposite that, as part of the transfer of the functions of the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman to the office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman, more than 90 per cent of the staff—11 of the 12 current staff—of the office of the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman are expected to transfer to the office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman. The transfer of existing Private Health Insurance Ombudsman staff to the office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman will ensure retention of specialised industry knowledge and provide a continued high level of service to consumers and industry alike. Additionally, the private health insurance complaints levy will continue to be collected to support the investigation of private health insurance complaints by the Commonwealth Ombudsman, and I can confirm that the website, privatehealth.gov.au, will also continue to operate exactly as it does now.

Finally, with regard to the concerns raised by the member for Ballarat about the revised penalties for mediation, it is important to note that the current Ombudsman Act does not provide for mediation powers for any of its ombudsmen. However, this bill seeks to retain a mediation power specifically for the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman, noting the importance of this function. While the corresponding penalty offence has never been applied, this was viewed as being an important power to retain. In order to better align with the penalty rates contained within the Ombudsman Act, the penalty rate for the failure to participate in mediation has been revised accordingly, but, importantly, it still exists.

The Australian government is unable to support the amendment moved by the opposition; however, I trust that my clarifications today have resolved those questions raised by the member for Ballarat, to which that amendment refers.

This government is, and will remain, committed to the important role that private health insurance plays in Australia's health landscape and is committed to supporting the private health sector into the future. Once again, I commend the bill to the House.

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