Commonwealth Seniors Health Card Explained

Once in retirement, we want to ensure that our funds will at least last us out.  The help of a good financial planner is imperative for this but also reducing costs wherever possible will also assist.  The Commonwealth Seniors Health Care (CSHC) entitles the holders to concessions and discounts on everyday items to reduce the living expenses of retirees and therefore reducing the need to draw on their retirement funds.  The only real down side is that you have an official card in your wallet that declares you’re a Senior Citizen.

Benefits
The Commonwealth Seniors Health Card gives you access to cheaper prescriptions via the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, bulk-billing rates for doctor’s appointments, and an increase in benefits for medical expenses above a certain threshold via the Medicare Safety Net.

Every state and territory have their own list of concessions available and often private businesses offer discounts or concessions to Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders.  The Card also entitles travel on the interstate rail services (Ghan, Indian Pacific and the Overland) at concessional rates.

As a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holder, you may also receive a Seniors Supplement of between $200 and $310 each quarter.

Eligibility
To be able to receive the CSHC you must have reached qualifying age, be an Australian citizen, a holder of a permanent visa, or a Special Category Visa holder with 2 years living residency, have an annual taxable income of less than $50,000 for singles, $80,000 couples and $100,000 for separated couples and are not currently receiving any Centrelink or Department of Veterans Affairs service pension or support.

Find out more & Applying
You can read more here Or you can download a brochure on the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card and other Government issued cards here.
To apply, you can download the application form from the Centrelink Website.