Commonwealth Numbered Acts

NATIONAL HEALTH AMENDMENT ACT (No. 2) 1978 No. 132, 1978 - SECT 4

4. After section 4 of the Principal Act the following section is inserted:
Waiting period
''4A. (1) Where, in accordance with the rules of a registered organization, a
contributor to a medical benefits fund or a hospital benefits fund conducted
by the organization, being a contributor in accordance with a basic table or
an optional table, is not entitled to fund benefits in respect of services,
treatment or care if rendered or given before the expiration of a specified
period commencing on the first day in respect of which he pays contributions
to that fund, that specified period shall be deemed to be a waiting period for
the purposes of this Act in relation to that contributor.

''(2) Notwithstanding sub-section (1), a period of exclusion from benefit,
whether full benefit or partial benefit, that is a period of a kind specified
in a guideline determined by the Minister under sub-section (2) of section 73E
shall not be deemed to be a waiting period for the purposes of this Act in
relation to a contributor.''.