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Commonwealth Seniors Health Card

The Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) helps senior Australians with the cost of prescription medicines and other health services (as listed below) if you are of age pension age but do not qualify for Age Pension.

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Eligibility

To qualify, you must:

  • be an Australian resident, living in Australia
  • not subject to a newly arrived residents waiting period
  • have reached age pension age but do not qualify for Age Pension (or do not receive certain other Social Security/Veteran Affairs pensions/benefits)
  • provide Centrelink with your and your partner's tax file number or be granted an exemption from providing your and your partner's tax file number, and
  • have an annual adjusted taxable income* of less than:
    • $50,000 (singles)
    • $80,000 (couples combined), or
    • $100,000 (couples combined who are separated due to ill health).

*This limit is increased by $639.60 for each dependent child you care for.

Note: Dependants of Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders are not eligible for concessions using the cardholder's card.

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Adjusted taxable income

Adjusted taxable income is:

Taxable income

This is income for which you would pay tax to the Australian Government on, for example bank interest and earnings. Whilst you may not be required to lodge a taxation return due to the level of your income, you may still have taxable income.

Foreign income

This is income from overseas that you do not pay Australian income tax on.

Total net investment losses

Total net investment losses are the sum of net losses from rental property income plus net losses from financial investment income.

Net losses from rental property income is where the expenses of owning the property (i.e mortgage interest payments and maintenance costs) exceed the income the gross rental income.

Net losses from financial investment income is where the expenses of owning the investment (i.e. interest payments on the money loaned to purchase the investments) exceed the income the investments are earning. Such investments are often referred to as negatively geared.

Employer provided benefits

Employer provided benefits that are taken into account for Commonwealth Seniors Health Card include benefits such as cars, school fees, loans, housing, health insurance, etc. Employer provided benefits in excess of $1,000 form part of a person’s adjusted taxable income.

Reportable superannuation contributions

Reportable superannuation contributions are discretionary or voluntary contributions. They can also be referred to as ‘concessional’ or ‘before tax contributions’. They include:

  • reportable employer superannuation contributions, such as voluntary salary sacrificed contributions. These contributions are on top of those required by law, such as those included in industrial awards or by the superannuation guarantee levy (currently 9%), and
  • personal deductible superannuation contributions, if they can be claimed as a tax deduction on a personal tax return.

Note: Post-tax contributions to superannuation are not reportable superannuation contributions.

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Services and discounts

You will get a discount on prescription medicines through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). You may also need to present your Medicare Card when you purchase PBS medicines.

Other services may include:

  • bulk-billed GP appointments, at the discretion of the GP (the Australian Government provides financial incentives for GPs to bulk-bill concession card holders)
  • a reduction in the cost of out-of-hospital medical expenses above a concessional threshold, through Medicare Safety Net
  • Great Southern Rail services such as The Indian Pacific, The Ghan and The Overland
  • in some instances, additional health, household, transport, education and recreation concessions which may be offered by State or Territory and local governments and private providers. Note: these providers offer these concessions at their own discretion, and the availability of these concessions may vary from state to state.

You may also be entitled to receive the Seniors Supplement - a non-taxable payment made every 3 months to help with regular bills such as energy, rates and motor vehicle registration fees.

Intent to claim

You can register an intent to claim for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card. This will ensure you are granted a card from the earliest possible date, if you qualify.

Once you have registered your intent to claim, you will be sent a claim form which you need to return within 14 days of registering your intent to claim.

If you cannot register yourself, someone else can do it for you. Refer to someone to deal with Centrelink for you.

Claiming

To claim your Commonwealth Seniors Health Card you need to lodge a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card claim form. Couples can lodge their claims on the same claim form.

Each person claiming a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card must provide:

  • a minimum of 50 points of proof of identity
  • proof of Australian residence
  • proof of your income.

Note: You cannot lodge a claim before you have reached age pension age.

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