Commonwealth Seniors Health Card

National Seniors Australia said seniors strongly valued the concessions offered to them via state, territory, local and federal governments.

One of the main concession cards in Australia is the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC).

This card is available to low-income, self-funded retirees who meet income test eligibility rules.

Under current eligibility rules, seniors can access the CSHC if their income is below a certain threshold:

• Singles: $61,284 per year; and
• Couples (combined): $98,054 per year;

Under the proposed changes, they will be able to earn up to the following thresholds:

• Singles: $90,000 per year; and
• Couples (combined): $144,000 per year.
• Accessible income under the CSHC income test includes a combination of actual income and deemed income from assets.

Increasing the income test limits will see more individuals having access to relevant pharmaceutical and medical benefits.

Because this increase requires legislative change, there was a delay in getting the Bill passed through Federal Parliament.

National Seniors Australia estimates that 44,000 retirees would benefit from this change in the first year.

An additional 52,000 retirees would get access to the card by 2026-27.

• Topics:

• Seniors
• Health & Wellbeing