This Part of this Act shall be deemed to have come into force on the first day of June, nineteen hundred and forty-nine.

Section thirteen of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from subsection two the words “one hundred and seventeen pounds”, and substituting the words “one hundred and thirty pounds”.

Section three of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1947, is hereby repealed.

Section sixteen of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from subsection one the words “one hundred and seventeen pounds”, and substituting the words “one hundred and thirty pounds”.

Section four of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1947, is hereby repealed.

Section seventeen of the principal Act is hereby amended as follows:

Section five of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1947, is hereby repealed.

Section nineteen of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from the proviso the words “one hundred and sixty-nine pounds”, and substituting the words “one hundred and eighty-two pounds”

Section six of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1947, is hereby repealed.

Section twenty-three of the principal Act is hereby amended as follows:

Section eight of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1947, is hereby repealed.

Section twenty-seven of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from subsection one the words “fifty-two pounds”, and substituting the words “sixty-five pounds”.

Section nine of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1947, is hereby repealed.

Section thirty-four of the principal Act is hereby amended as follows:

Section ten of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1947, is hereby repealed.

Section thirty-five of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from the proviso the words “two hundred and seventy-three pounds”, and substituting the words “two hundred and eighty-six pounds”.

Section eleven of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1947, is hereby repealed.

Section forty-one of the principal Act (as substituted by section twenty-one of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1945, and amended by section twelve of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1947), is hereby further amended by omitting the words “one hundred and seventeen pounds” wherever they occur, and substituting in each case the words “one hundred and thirty pounds”.

Section twelve of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1947, is hereby repealed.

Section forty-four of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from subsection one the words “ninety-one pounds”, and substituting the words “one hundred and four pounds”

Section thirteen of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1947, is hereby repealed.

Subsection two of section forty-six of the principal Act (as substituted by section twenty-three of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1945, and amended by section fourteen of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1947) is hereby further amended as follows:

Section fourteen of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1947, is hereby repealed.

Section fifty-two of the principal Act (as amended by section twenty-five of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1945, and by section fifteen of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1947) is hereby further amended as follows:

Section fifteen of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1947, is hereby repealed.

Except as otherwise hereinafter provided, this Part of this Act shall come into force on the first day of November, nineteen hundred and forty-nine.

Section twenty-four of the principal Act (as substituted by section two of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1946) is hereby amended by adding to subsection one the following proviso:

Section sixty-two of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding to paragraph (c) the following proviso:

Section sixty-three of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting in subsection three, after the word “age-benefit”, the words “or a widow’s benefit”.

Section sixty-eight of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from subsection three the words “date when”, and substituting the words “end of the month in which”.

Section seventy-four of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding the following subsection as subsection two thereof:

Section seventy-five of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding to paragraph (a) of subsection one the following proviso:

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Part II of the principal Act, the Commission may in its discretion increase by an amount not exceeding twenty-six pounds a year the rate of any benefit under Part II of the principal Act payable to any beneficiary who satisfies the Commission that he or she was one of the parents of

For the purposes of this section a beneficiary shall be deemed to have been one of the parents of any such deceased member if the member was a child or stepchild or adopted child of the beneficiary, or if in any other case the member was maintained by the beneficiary or by the wife or husband of the beneficiary and is in the circumstances of the case regarded by the Commission as being a child of the beneficiary.

This section is in substitution for section eleven of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1943, and that section and subsection three of section seven of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1945, and section thirty-three of the last-mentioned Act are hereby consequentially repealed.

This section shall be deemed to have come into force on the first day of April, nineteen hundred and forty-nine.

Section two of the Social Security (Reciprocity with Australia) Act, 1948, is hereby amended, as from the commencement thereof, by inserting, after the definition of the expression “appropriate authority”, the following definition:—

This Part of this Act shall be deemed to form part of Part III of the principal Act, and shall come into force on a day to be appointed for the commencement thereof by the Minister of Health by notice in the Gazette.

This Part of this Act shall apply with respect to all medical services provided by a medical practitioner on or after the date of the commencement of this Part of this Act, and shall not apply to any medical services provided before that date.

Section three of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1941 (which sets out certain classes of medical services that are not to be the subject of specific fees paid from the Social Security Fund), is hereby amended by inserting, after paragraph (e), the following new paragraph:

Section seven of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1941 (which entitles a medical practitioner to recover fees from a patient and the patient to obtain a refund from the Social Security Fund), is hereby amended by adding to subsection one the words “in either of the following cases, namely:

Section four of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1941, is hereby amended by omitting from paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of subsection one the words “a fee of seven shillings and sixpence”, and substituting in each case the words “a reasonable fee not exceeding seven shillings and sixpence”.

Section eleven of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1941 (which authorizes the making of regulations), is hereby amended by adding to paragraph (a) the words “or to receive from the Fund mileage fees computed at a rate higher than that specified in section five of this Act”.

Section five of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1941, is hereby consequentially amended by omitting from subsection two the words “Subject to the provisions of this section”, and substituting the words “Subject to the provisions of this Act”.

Notwithstanding the provisions of section twelve of the Finance Act (No. 2), 1942, regulations may be made under section one hundred and forty of the principal Act for the provision of benefits in respect of any class or classes of specialist medical services as defined in the said section twelve and for the payment out of the Social Security Fund in respect of any such services of fees to be determined in accordance with a scale of fees to be fixed in accordance with the provisions of section twelve of the Social Security Amendment Act, (which relates to maternity benefits), as if it were a scale of fees under that section; and the provisions of subsections two to seven of the last-mentioned section shall apply accordingly to every scale of fees under this section.

Any regulations made for the purposes of this section may include provisions for the official recognition of medical practitioners as specialists in any branch or branches of medicine or surgery, and for the determination of questions or disputes as to whether or not a particular service is a specialist medical service.

For the purposes of this section,—

No medical practitioner shall be entitled to recover any fees or charges for medical services as hereinbefore defined until the expiration of one month after an account signed by him and showing particulars of the services provided on each occasion for which a fee or charge is claimed and the amount claimed for each occasion has been delivered to the person chargeable:

Provided that any Judge or Magistrate may on the ex parte application of any medical practitioner authorize him to commence an action for the recovery of any fees or charges before the expiration of the period limited by this subsection on proof that there is reasonable cause for believing that the person chargeable is about to leave New Zealand or has done or is about to do any other act that would tend to prevent or delay the medical practitioner from obtaining payment

That delivery may be effected either by personal delivery of the account to the person chargeable or by forwarding it to him by post in a registered letter addressed to him at his place of residence or last known place of residence.

Within one month after the delivery of an account in accordance with this section, the person chargeable may apply to the Divisional Disciplinary Committee for the district in which the medical practitioner resides for an examination of the account by the Committee and for its opinion as to what are reasonable fees or charges for the services for which the account is rendered.

Every such application shall be in writing addressed to the Secretary of the Committee, and shall be accompanied by the account and supported by such other information as the Committee may require of the applicant.

If the Court in which any action for the recovery of any fees or charges in respect of any medical services is pending is satisfied that an application has been made under this section for an examination of the account for those fees or charges, the Court shall not complete the hearing of the action until the opinion of the Committee is made known to the Court

The Court in which any action for the recovery of any fees or charges in respect of any medical services is pending may of its own motion or on the application of any party refer the account for the fees or charges for examination to the Divisional Disciplinary Committee for the district in which the medical practitioner resides, and in any such case the Court shall not complete the hearing of the action until the opinion of the Committee is made known to the Court.

Where in any action for the recovery of fees or charges in respect of any medical services the opinion of the Divisional Disciplinary Committee on the account for the fees or charges has been made known to the Court, the Court shall not give judgment for any amount exceeding that which is expressed to be reasonable in the opinion of the Committee without first affording the Committee a reasonable opportunity of appearing by counsel and adducing evidence and making representations on the matter.

Section eight of the Social Security Amendment Act, 1941, is hereby repealed.

Section eighty-one of the principal Act (which restricts the right to benefits where damages are recoverable) is hereby amended by omitting from subsection one the word “If”, and substituting the words “To the extent to which”.