Can CSA issue a notice against Health Insurance Commission payments to a doctor?
CSA is legally able to serve notices to the Health Insurance Commission requiring it to deduct amounts from ‘pay doctor cheques’ but will not do so. ‘Pay doctor cheques’ are payments made under section 20(2) of the Health Insurance Act 1973 where the practitioner has billed the patient and the patient is entitled to receive a cheque for the amount of Medicare benefit which is drawn in favour of the practitioner who has rendered the service. This is due to the administrative problems involved and the anticipated adverse effects on the patients whose doctors may have had payment stopped on their cheques. What if a property is mortgaged? A section 72A notice creates a fixed charge on all money due from the third party to the payer to the extent of the liability. However, the charge created by the service of a notice does not rank ahead of any existing fixed charges, e.g. mortgages. A notice will rank ahead of floating charges which have not yet crystallised at the time the notices were se
