C23/2000 ISSUE OF 2000/01 COMMONWEALTH SENIORS HEALTH CARD (CSHC)

DATE OF ISSUE:  14 AUGUST 2000

ISSUE OF 2000/01 COMMONWEALTH SENIORS HEALTH CARD (CSHC)

PURPOSE

To provide information about the bulk issue of the 2000/01 Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC).

HISTORY & CONCESSIONS PROVIDED

The CSHC was introduced on 1 July 1994 and has since been issued in bulk each financial year.  CSHC provides entitlement to Commonwealth Concessions only.  This entitlement is currently limited to concessional pharmaceuticals listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).  Access to the Commonwealth Dental Program by the CSHC holders ceased on 1 January 1997 and eligibility for hearing services became unavailable from 1 July 1997.

The income test for the CSHC changed on 1 January 1999 from assessing ordinary income to taxable income.

ELIGIBILITY

The CSHC is intended to assist those retirees and other eligible veterans of pension age who fail to qualify for pension due to assets or income in excess of the current limit.

To be eligible for the CSHC, a person must:

• be a veteran who has rendered qualifying service or the partner, non-illness separated spouse or widow(er) of such a veteran; and
• have reached pension age; and
• be an Australian resident; and
• be in Australia; and
• not be in receipt of service pension, income support supplement or a social security pension or benefit; and
• satisfy the CSHC income test.

Eligibility is determined manually by State Office staff.

PENSION AGE

Pension age is currently:

• 60 years of age (or greater) for a male veteran, and 56.5 years of age (or greater) for a female veteran; and
• 65 years of age (or greater) for the male partner of a veteran, and 61.5 years of age (or greater) for the female partner of a veteran.

THE CSHC INCOME TEST

The current CSHC taxable income test limits have been increased as a result of recent GST changes and are as follows:

• single - $41,000
• partnered - $68,676
• illness separated - $75,230
• plus an additional amount per year for each dependant child - $639.60.

PRODUCTION, TIMING AND LOCATION

Processing of the bulk issue of approximately 5,310 CSHC cards will take place on 21/8/2000, following the extract of client data on 14/8/2000. CSHC recipients should receive their cards in the first week of September.

CARD NUMBERS

Following is the State by State breakdown of the expected numbers of CSHCs to be issued in the bulk run and the quantity of the blank stock to be supplied to the State Offices for daily card issue.

State	No. - Bulk issue	Blank supply for daily issue
NSW	2111	400
VIC	1332	400
QLD	889	300
WA	435	200
SA	425	150
TAS	118	150
TOTAL	5310	1600

FORMAT OF CARDS/ CARRIER

The card has changed from last year.  The card will now be consistent with other IS cards and is the same make-up as the TC1 & PCC.  The carrier will continue to be a single A4 cut sheet format stationery, printed on the front and back. The card and carrier is identical for each State.  However, during the personalising process, slightly different information will be printed on the carrier for each State.

EXPIRY DATE

The expiry date for all CSHCs will be 30 September 2001.

POST PRODUCTION REPORTS

A copy of the post-production schedule reports will be sent to each office by National Office.   IMU Branch will forward all reports to Business Operations & Support in National Office who will then forward them on to the respective State Office contacts.

DAILY ISSUES & SUPPLIES OF BLANK STOCK

The new templates for the daily issue are to be used from Tuesday 15 August.  The new templates have the expiry date of 30 September 2001. This means States will only need to issue one card for any new grants after 14 August 2000.  ie the card will show: “Valid from: 15 August 2000 to 30 September 2001.

The blank stock for the daily issue of CSHCs will be forwarded by SMS to the State Office's nominated officers as listed below immediately after the bulk issue.

STATE	QUANTITY	CONTACT	PHONE	FAX
NSW	400	Sue Cooney	(02) 9213 7874	(02) 9212 7885
VIC	400	David Price	(03) 9284 6379	(03) 9284 6797
QLD	300	Gaynor Corlis	(07) 3223 8842	(07) 3223 8533
WA	200	Clyton Aitkon	(08) 9366 8417	(08) 9366 8239
SA	150	Maria Lewandowski	(08) 8290 0439	(08) 8290 0412
TAS	150	Judith Makedos	(03) 6221 6684	(03) 6221 6601

REPORT DAILY ISSUE DIFFICULTIES

Any difficulties in relation to daily issues should be reported to the contact officers in National Office.

Robert Krajina                                          David Hollaway

Tel:  (02) 6289 6044          OR                Tel:  (02) 6289 6347

Fax:  (02) 6289 6553                               Fax: (02) 6289 6553

JEANETTE RICKETS

A/G BRANCH HEAD

INCOME SUPPORT BRANCH

     August 2000