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Today's announcement by the Prime Minister, The Hon John Howard, to process Medicare payments via the banks' EFTPOS system is welcomed by the National Australia Bank (NAB).
Bruce Munro, NAB Regional General Manager Specialised Businesses, said the existing EFTPOS system is a robust and highly secure payment infrastructure, processing over 3 billion payments totalling $126 billion in 2005*.
"Under this proposal the Medicare claiming process will be significantly easier and more convenient for patients. Medicare refunds will be paid directly to their account instead of having to lodge a claim at a Medicare office, online or via the mail," Mr Munro said.
The EFTPOS system Australians use to pay every day expenses such as bills, groceries and entertainment can be effectively upgraded to manage government health service transactions such as Medicare.
"It makes good economic sense to use the banks' existing payment system to process healthcare payments.
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For further media information, please contact:
John Fergusson
NAB Corporate Affairs
Mob: 0407 826 952
*APCA website www.apca.com.au
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