Health Services Amendment (Guaranteeing Free Public Hospital Services) Bill 2014 - NSW Challenges Budget
Monday 2 June 2014 @ 11.48 a.m. | Legal Research
In a bill introduced into the NSW Parliament on 29 May 2014, as a direct challenge to the Medicare co-payment introduced into the Federal Budget of 2014, the Health Services Amendment (Guaranteeing Free Public Hospital Services) Bill 2014 proposes that free access to hospital rooms in NSW is non-negotiable.
The Bill
The object of this Bill is to ensure that public patients continue to receive health services from public hospitals free of charge.
It proposes a single amendment to the Health Services Act 1997 (NSW) inserting a new Section 75A which states that all health services provided to a public patient in a public hospital which were free before 29 May 2014, shall continue to be free regardless of any other law or agreement between the States and the Commonwealth.
Reaction to the Bill
Mr John Robertson, in his second reading speech, stated that:
"The change that Labor seeks to enshrine today is fundamental. Free access to hospital emergency rooms in New South Wales is non-negotiable...Our society is based on the principle that hospitals are open to young and old people, the wealthy and the poor who need them in an emergency at any time of day, even the middle of the night."
Health Minister Jillian Skinner said at the time of introduction of the budget:
"The NSW government will not implement a co-payment for patients accessing our emergency departments.”
It remains to be seen whether the State Government will support the bill as indicated in the coming Parliamentary debates, due to come back into session on 17 June 2014.
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Sources:
Health Services Amendment (Guaranteeing Free Public Hospital Services) Bill 2014 - Bill, Explanatory Notes and Second Reading Speech as reproduced in TimeBase LawOne.
