Kaiserin_
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Kaiserin_
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- Joined
- Jan 1, 2025
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CONGRESS OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT
A BILL TO
Establish and Clarify the State Provision of Healthcare in Redmont
The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:
1. Short Title and Enactment
(1) This Act may be cited as the ‘Redmontian Health Service Act’
(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.
(3) This Act has been authored by Health Secretary gwiis and Speaker Kaiserin_.
(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by Deputy Senate President EATB.
(5) This Act amends the following acts:
(a) National Health Service Act
(b) Criminal Code Act
2. Reasons and Intent
(1) The current legislation around the provision of healthcare, who is legally permitted to do so and via which means is ineffectual.
(a) There is no solid legal definition of what qualifies as a health treatment, despite reliance on this term in law.
(b) There is no solid legal basis that provides for Medicare, and statutes dictating DOH policy are easily avoided.
(c) There is no solid legal basis for who can provide healthcare in Redmont, and no legally defined powers of regulation of these individuals.
(2) Redmont deserves clear laws when it comes to the provision of healthcare.
(3) Healthcare should be free for all at the point of service where practical
3. Definitions
(1) For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions shall apply:
(a) Health Condition. Any disease, injury, illness, or negative status effect recognised as such under DOH policy.
(b) Administration. The use of an item on a player by clicking.
(c) Dispensation. The sale, distribution or administration of an item.
PART II — PROVISIONS
4. The Department
(1) The Department of Health, henceforth the ‘DOH’, as charged by the Executive Standards Act, shall be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the national health system in Redmont.
(2) The DOH shall be the sole regulatory authority for healthcare and health-related services and items in Redmont and may, subject to this Act:
(a) regulate the pricing, sale, crafting, distribution, and provision of healthcare-related items and services;
(b) regulate the training and conduct standards of healthcare professionals; and
(c) issue, regulate, suspend, and revoke licences for the legal provision of healthcare.
(3) In exercising its powers under this Act, the DOH shall act only in ways that promote the safety, accessibility and affordability of healthcare in Redmont.
5. Medicare
(1) The DOH shall maintain a state-funded, public health insurance scheme, henceforth called ‘Medicare’.
(2) All citizens shall be entitled to coverage under Medicare, unless expressly limited by statute.
(3) The DOH shall establish and maintain a public Medicare policy which shall set out a Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) specifying:
(a) the healthcare services covered by Medicare;
(b) the extent and type of coverage for each service;
(c) any conditions or limitations to that coverage; and
(d) any co-payment applicable to a covered service.
(4) Medicare shall provide coverage in two types, either:-
(a) in-full, under which the patient makes no contribution towards the covered amount specified in the MBS; or
(b) in-part, under which the patient makes the co-payment specified in the MBS as a contribution towards the covered amount.
(5) The DOH shall not impose any additional costs beyond those covered by the MBS, excluding any required co-payment, for any provided service when:-
(a) a player is entitled to coverage;
(b) the service is listed as covered on the MBS;
(c) the service is provided in a DOH facility; and
(d) the service is provided by a DOH employee in the course of their official duties.
6. Health Treatments
(1) Health treatments shall qualify as healthcare-related items and be defined under law as any item that, when used on a player, alleviates, cures or prevents a health condition.
(2) The DOH shall, through policy, assign each health treatment to one of three classes:
(a) Class A for treatments that are restricted to administration by the properly licensed individuals.
(b) Class B for treatments that may be dispensed by the properly licensed individuals.
(c) Class C for treatments that may be freely dispensed.
(3) Players may self-administer any Class B or Class C treatment item that is in their possession without need for a licence.
(4) Until otherwise specified in policy, all treatments shall be automatically assigned to class A.
7. Licences
(1) The following licences are recognised under this Act:
(a) Licence to Practise, which authorises the holder to, in the course of their official duties as an employee of the Department of Health, possess and administer treatments of any class.
(b) Pharmacist Licence, which authorises the holder to:
(i) dispense treatments of Class B and Class C, including through a business registered as a pharmacy under DOH policy; and
(ii) serve as the licensed pharmacist for a registered pharmacy.
PART III - AMENDMENTS
8. Repeals
(1) The National Health Service Act is hereby repealed.
(2) No act repealed by the National Health Service Act shall be brought back into force by § 3(1).
9. Criminal Code Act Amendments
(1) The following offences shall be struck from the Criminal Code Act:
(a) Part VI §§ 5-6:
Offence Type: Summary
Penalty: 20 Penalty Units; 15 minutes imprisonment; Notify Secretary of Health
A person commits an offence if the person:
(a) possesses a health treatment—specifically, one that can only be crafted by Doctors but not Pharmacists—outside of designated areas.
Relevant Law:
Offence Type: Indictable
Penalty: Up to 200 Penalty Units; up to 60 minutes imprisonment
A person commits an offence if the person:
(a) distributes, sells, or traffics any health treatment item restricted to Doctors or Pharmacists, or sells in a pharmacy not approved.
Relevant Law:
(b) Part IX §§ 16-19:
Offence Type: Summary
Penalty:
First offence - 10 Penalty Units; 10 min imprisonment; notify Health Secretary;
Subsequent offences - 20 Penalty Units; 20 min imprisonment; notify Health Secretary
A person commits an offence if the person:
(a) oversupplies treatment items meant to treat an illness.
Relevant Law:
Offence Type: Summary
Penalty:
(a) First offence - 1 Penalty Units;
(b) Second offence - 5 Penalty Units; 5 min imprisonment;
(c) Subsequent offences - 10 Penalty Units; 10 min imprisonment
A person commits an offence if the person:
(a) fakes having a disease in bad faith.
Relevant Law:
Offence Type: Summary
(a) First offence - 10 Penalty Units; 20 mins imprisonment;
(b) Second offence - 20 Penalty Units; 40 min imprisonment;
(c) Subsequent offences - 40 Penalty Units; 60 min imprisonment
A person commits an offence if the person:
(a) Intentionally or recklessly infects another player with a disease, fails to contain it, or causes a non-consensual diagnosis or injury.
(b) Publicly conspires to infect other players with a disease.
(c) Instances of §IX.198.b override Conspiracy to commit a crime.
Relevant Law:
Offence Type: Summary
(a) First offence - 1 Penalty Units; eviction;
(b) Second offence - 5 Penalty Units; 5 min imprisonment; eviction;
(c) Subsequent offences - 10 Penalty Units; 10 min imprisonment; eviction
A person commits an offence if the person:
(a) rents pharmacy-designated space without Department of Health approval.
Relevant Law:
(2) Part IX of the Criminal Code Act shall be renumerated as Part X.
(3) The following shall be amended into the Criminal Code Act as a new Part IX (read as though the following text is green):
PART IX: HEALTH OFFENCES
This Part provides for offences that undermine public health, the lawful regulation of healthcare, or the proper operation of Medicare and the Department of Health.
1 - Providing Treatment without a Licence
Offence Type: Summary
Penalty: Up to 50 Penalty Units; up to 15 min imprisonment
A person commits an offence if the person:
(a) administers a Class A health treatment without holding a valid licence to practise.
Relevant Law: (Link to the Redmontian Health Service Act)
2 - Illicit Trafficking of a Health Treatment
Offence Type: Indictable
Penalty: Up to 200 Penalty Units; up to 60 minutes imprisonment
A person commits an offence if the person:
(a) sells or distributes a Class A health treatment; or
(b) dispenses a Class B health treatment without holding the required licence.
Relevant Law: (Link to the Redmontian Health Service Act)
3 - Illicit Possession of a Class A Health Treatment
Offence Type: Summary
Penalty: 20 Penalty Units
A person commits an offence if the person:
(a) has wittingly in their possession, or within a container used by them for storage or commerce, a Class A health treatment, and one of the following conditions are met:
(i) the person is not properly licensed to possess the treatment; or
(ii) the possession is not within the course of the person's official duties as an employee of the Department of Health.
Relevant Law: (Link to the Redmontian Health Service Act)
4 - Reckless Transmission of a Disease
Offence Type: Summary
(a) First offence - 10 Penalty Units; 20 mins imprisonment
(b) Second offence - 20 Penalty Units; 40 min imprisonment
(c) Subsequent offences - 40 Penalty Units; 60 min imprisonment
A person commits an offence if the person:
(a) recklessly exposes another player to a contagious disease by failing to take or adhere to reasonable containment measures.
Relevant Law:
5 - Intentional Transmission of a Disease
Offence Type: Summary
(a) First offence - 20 Penalty Units; 20 mins imprisonment
(b) Second offence - 40 Penalty Units; 40 min imprisonment
(c) Subsequent offences - 80 Penalty Units; 60 min imprisonment
A person commits an offence if the person:
(a) intentionally infects, or threatens to infect, another player with a contagious disease. This offence overrides Reckless Transmission of a Disease.
Relevant Law:
6 - Malingering
Offence Type: Indictable
Penalty: Up to 50 penalty units; Up to 60 mins imprisonment; Revoked entitlement to Medicare
A person commits an offence if the person:
(a) Intentionally and repeatedly contracts a health condition in a manner that substantially disrupts the regular operation or provision of public health services.
Relevant Law:
7 - Medicare Fraud
Offence Type: Indictable
Penalty: Up to 100 penalty units; Up to 60 mins imprisonment; Revoked entitlement to Medicare; Revoked licence-to-practice
A person commits an offence if the person:
(a) Claims a Medicare payment for a treatment that they administer to themself; or
(b) Intentionally contracts a health condition for monetary benefit through the Medicare system; or
(c) Knowingly collects Medicare payment for the treatment of a health condition that was contracted for monetary benefit; or
(d) Knowingly collects Medicare payment for the treatment of a health condition that has already been paid for without the use of Medicare.
Relevant Law: (Link to the Redmontian Health Service Act)