13-02-2025
$60,000 Centrelink savings that 1 million retirees are missing out on
More than one million Australians are missing out on thousands of dollars in savings from Centrelink's Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) because they don't realise they are eligible for it. The card gives retirees access to cheaper healthcare, along with state-based discounts on things like electricity, rates, public transport and other bills.
The CSHC is available to those who have reached the pension age of 67 but are not receiving Centrelink payments like the age pension. There's no asset test to get the card but there is an income test.
Retirement Essentials estimates the savings from the card can be as much as $3,000 a year for a single person. That adds up to $60,000 in potential savings for someone who lives until 87.
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SuperEd chief customer officer James Coyle estimated there could be as many as 1.5 million self-funded retirees who don't receive the CSHS, with some 500,000 people already getting it.
'Some of these will have high incomes from rental properties, shares, etc so may not be eligible but a conservative calculation would be in the order of one million self-funded retirees that could be eligible that are not receiving it,' Coyle told The Australian Financial Review.
It's thought that retirees are missing out on the savings because they don't realise there have been changes to the income passed to dramatically increase the income thresholds for the card over the last couple of years. The test is reviewed each year in line with the Consumer Price Index.
From September 20, 2024, singles can earn $99,025 to be eligible for the card, while couples can earn $158,440 combined.
When working out your income, Services Australia said it will look at both your adjusted taxable income and a deemed amount from account-based income streams.
That means the government doesn't use the actual income in the test, but a deemed income which is usually less.
For example, Coyle said someone with the maximum of $1.9 million in an account-based pension would be deemed to earn around $41,500, which is well below the $99,025 threshold.
If you think you could be eligible, you can find out more about the eligibility and income rules here and make a claim here.
Age Pension recipients don't receive the CSHC but instead can receive a Pensioner Concession Card.
CSHC cardholders can access medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for just $7.70 a script. This is capped at $277.20 per year, meaning you can get free medicines once you reach this limit.
Cardholders can also access bulk billing doctor visits, but this is up to your doctor.
Depending on where you live, cardholders can also access state-based discounts on electricity and gas bills, property and water rates, health care costs including ambulance, dental and eye care, and public transport.
Challenger estimated that Western Australian residents could get an extra $32,440 in benefits, South Australian residents an extra $11,540, and New South Wales residents an added $5,000 over their lifetime. Victorians, Queenslanders and Tasmanians won't benefit from extra state-based in to access your portfolio
