Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:C2025C00156:section:10ac:p1
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:C2025C00156
Segment Type: section
Provision Reference: s 10AC (pt 1/3)
Character Range: 88527–91166

10AC  Safety‑net—families
 (1) In this section:
relevant service means a service:
 (a) in respect of which benefit is payable; and
 (b) the medical expenses in respect of which exceed the amount of benefit that, apart from this section, would be payable in respect of the service;
but does not include a service rendered to a person while hospital treatment, or hospital‑substitute treatment in respect of which the person chooses to receive a benefit from a private health insurer, is provided to the person, being a service of that kind provided on or after 1 September 1985.
year means the year beginning on 1 January 1992 or a later year beginning on 1 January.
 (2) Subject to this Act, if:
 (a) a claim (in this subsection called the threshold claim) for benefit is made by a claimant in respect of a relevant service:
 (i) which was rendered to the claimant or to a member of the claimant's registered family; and
 (ii) in respect of which the medical expenses are incurred in a year;
  and the claim is accepted by the Chief Executive Medicare; and
 (b) other claims (in this subsection called prior claims) have been made for benefit in respect of relevant services:
 (i) which were rendered to any member of the family; and
 (ii) in respect of which the medical expenses were incurred during the year;
  and the prior claims were accepted for payment by the Chief Executive Medicare before the time when the threshold claim was accepted for payment (in this subsection called the relevant time); and
 (c) the Chief Executive Medicare is satisfied at the relevant time that:
 (i) the medical expenses of the services relating to the threshold claim and to some or all of the prior claims have been paid; and
 (ii) the sum of the patient contributions that have been paid in respect of those prior claims is less than the safety‑net amount for that year; and
 (iii) the sum of the patient contribution in respect of the threshold claim and the patient contributions referred to in subparagraph (ii) is equal to or exceeds the safety‑net amount;
the benefit payable in respect of a relevant service rendered to any of the family and in respect of which medical expenses were incurred in respect of that year (being the service to which the threshold claim relates or any service that is not the subject of a prior claim referred to in paragraph (b)) is increased by the amount of the patient contribution in respect of that relevant service.
 (2A) The patient contributions under subparagraph (2)(c)(ii) (including for the purpose of subparagraph (2)(c)(iii)) are to be reduced by so much of those patient contributions as have been