Jacqueline has received her concession card with her husband’s name on it and wants to know his entitlements.
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Q. Jacqueline
My husband’s name is on my concession card. What is he entitled to?
A. The good news is that your partner should be entitled to concessions as he is named on your Pension Concession Card (PCC). He will receive prescription medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme at a concession rate. However, bulk billing and reduced-rate medical appointments are given at the discretion of the provider.
Other concessions will also be at the discretion of providers, but it certainly pays to ask the question before handing over your cash.
The PCC also helps with access to hearing services. Hearing services may include:
- a comprehensive hearing assessment performed by a qualified hearing services provider
- access to a wide range of quality fully subsidised hearing devices, made by leading manufacturers
- if you are fitted with a hearing device, you will receive advice on how to achieve maximum benefit from your device
- further support and hearing services, which can be accessed even if fitting a hearing device is not suitable
- access to an optional annual maintenance agreement where, for a small fee, you can receive repairs and batteries to support your hearing device. For further information refer to the maintenance agreements
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My wife’s name was on my card; she is 4 years younger. She got all the concessions I was entitled to, at 65 years of age she got her own card, and at that time her pension came in and now we are both on part-pension. Maybe we were just lucky but we have always been bulk billed at the GP.
Almost a waste of a bit of plastic for me, as I take no medicines, get no concessions through council, and the rest are simple small marketing efforts by places rare used. I was denied a pension when they changed the goalposts some years back. I will NEVER forget that.
My wife is 5 years younger than me and does not work. I am on the Old Age Pension which I receive through DVA. Her name is on my Concession Card. However, according to Medicare she has to wait until she reaches 66 before she can get the concession for Chemist prescriptions. I have argued for 5 years that she is entitled, to no avail. I have several friends whose wives still work, and because the wife’s name is on the card they get the full concession. Yet DVA states that the DVA concession card affords the exact same benefits as the Centrelink card does. Does anyone else have a similar problem with the DVA concession card? I’m curious to see if I am the only one.
Check out this web address: https://www.dva.gov.au/factsheet-is125-pensioner-concession-card
It does say ‘Card holder’.
Your wife might be entitled to the low income Health Care Card which does the same as the Pension Card as far as medicines are concerned. My wife was given that option, she is 4 years younger than me.
Why so much blurb about hearing tests and hearing aids and zilch about other concessions.