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| Sunday, May 17, 03:14:48pm | [ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, [3], 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ] |
| Subject: Online Medicare payments by year end | |
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Author: APRIL 25, 2006 |
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Date Posted: Monday, April 24, 06:28:37pm In reply to: Newspapers reporting result--March 7 2003 SMH 's message, "Noteholders have tickets to ride" on Thursday, March 06, 08:38:56am Online Medicare payments by year end James Riley APRIL 25, 2006 AUSTRALIA'S largest banks have fast-tracked plans to redevelop the national eftpos network in preparation for putting nearly $8 billion worth of Medicare rebate transactions online. While federal Cabinet considers whether to approve Human Services Minister Joe Hockey's proposed eServices smartcard, the banks say they can use the existing magnetic-stripe Medicare cards to start making payments online in six to eight months. Mr Hockey has proposed replacing Medicare cards with smartcards, which would be used to access government services ranging from Centrelink benefits and healthcare payments to Child Support assistance. The government services smartcard is being considered by federal Cabinet. National Australia Bank general manager Peter Roeleven said it would be cheaper and more secure to process government payments through the existing eftpos network rather than build a special government-only network. ADVERTISEMENT The Australian Payments Clearing Association - the industry group that sets technical rules for how the banks' computers communicate over the eftpos network - has accelerated plans to allow Medicare rebates to be paid directly into bank accounts using existing magnetic-stripe Medicare cards. Once the association sets the standards, the banks are planning major back-end redevelopment projects to change the eftpos network from a debit-only system to allow for real-time crediting. Mr Roeleven said the redevelopment work would rebuild the eftpos system's cumbersome refund function, which lets retailers give shoppers refunds for returned goods. "What we're doing is enhancing that mechanism for refunds and taking into account all the risks that surround this so that we process an online, real-time payment back to a patient's account as a rebate payment," Mr Roeleven said. While the banks also support the government smartcard proposal for the longer term, they say they will redevelop the eftpos system to allow government payments to be made with existing Medicare cards as an interim solution. Mr Hockey has made putting Medicare payments online a top priority to reduce the costs of cash handling and the pressure of 220 million over-the-counter transactions at Medicare shopfront offices. The banks are keen to support the plan because it puts $7.8 billion worth of Medicare payments through the eftpos network - with the government paying a per-transaction handling fee. "We would obviously like to see those transactions running through our network, there's no secret about that," Mr Roeleven said. "If we are going to process a transaction, we have to cover our costs, but we would hope that because we can do it more efficiently than the next guy, we could not only recover my costs but also make a small margin." The Australian [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |