Update- Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC)
Once you reach pension age (65 plus) you may be eligible for the CSHC which gives Australians access to cheaper prescription medicines even if you do not qualify for the Age Pension.
There is no asset test for the CSHC and the income test is currently based on adjusted taxable income which excludes account based pension income payments (and withdrawals) because they are received tax-free and therefore no amount is captured as income for the purposes of the CSHC.
To be eligible for the CSHC your annual adjusted taxable income must be less than:
- $51,500 for singles
- $82,400 for couples combined, or
- $103,000 for couples combined, couples separated by illness or respite care, or where one partner is in prison
However under new legislation (passed by the Senate on 17 November 2014) any new holders of the CSHC from 1 January 2015 will have their account based pensions deemed using the existing Centrelink deeming rules for financial investments regardless of when the account based pension commenced.
This means that if you currently have the CSHC (or immediately apply and qualify) and begin an account based pension before 1 January 2015, the account based pension will be grandfathered and will not be impacted by the new legislative changes.
If you have questions, please contact us.
At Newealth we are always looking to support and promote our clients wherever possible and if you have any ideas or comments, please feel free to email me via Contact Us or to call me on +61 2 9267 2322.
25th-November-2014 | 
