Health Insurance Act 1973

A professional mentioned in subsection 20A(1), an insurer or an approved billing agent (a relevant person) must keep all records of a kind specified by the regulations that are relevant to the following:

the assignment of the right to payment of a medicare benefit to the relevant person under section 20A;

any claim for a medicare benefit assigned to the relevant person made under section 20B;

any matter specified in the regulations.

Subsection (3) applies if:

the right to the payment of a medicare benefit in respect of a professional service is taken to have been assigned under subsection 20A(2); and

the professional service was rendered by, or on behalf of, a person (the professional) while hospital treatment or hospital‑substitute treatment was provided.

The following person (also a relevant person):

in the case of hospital treatment authorised by the operator of a hospital (see subsection 20AAA(7))—the operator of the hospital;

in the case of hospital‑substitute treatment authorised by an organization (see subsection 20AAA(7))—the organization;

in the case of hospital‑substitute treatment to which paragraph (b) does not apply—the professional;

the assignment of the right to payment of the medicare benefit;

any matter specified in the regulations.

The records must be kept in:

an electronic form; or

another form approved by the Secretary.

The records must be retained until the latest of the following:

if the record is an agreement entered into under subsection 20A(1) or an arrangement mentioned in paragraph 20AAA(1)(a)—2 years after the agreement or arrangement ceases to be in force;

2 years after the day on which the records were created;

if the regulations specify a day for records of a specified kind, and the records are of that kind—that day.

A relevant person contravenes this subsection if the relevant person fails to:

keep the records required by subsection (1) or (3); or

keep the records in the form required by or under subsection (4); or

retain the records for the period required by or under subsection (5).

Without limiting this section, regulations prescribing kinds of records, or matters to which records are relevant, may specify different kinds or matters for different classes of person.