Parents on perm sponsored visa - Seniors cards ???

[mcgkerry]

Hi all

My parents have now been here 5 yrs total and the past 2 years on a permanent parental sponsored visa.

We live in QLD and I applied for a senior +Go card for them thinking this is the one to help reduce their prescription costs ... however apparently its not .... I assume it must be the commonwealth seniors card ????

Mmmmmmm are they even entitled to apply for it under their visa conditions or is this one of those things under the 10 year waiting times with their visa .... I know there is no centrelink entitlement until the 10 year permanent is up but Im not sure about this ... also want them to be able to access the Govt free dental clinics .... can they even do that ??????aghhhhhhh very confused 

Hope someone can help & advise.

 

Cheers

Kerry 

 

[Amber Snowball]

Pretty sure they can apply for the CW card. That’s the one that they have to declare their income I think, so the form just looked too poxy to fill in for us so we didn’t bother, wasn’t sure how to deal with the exchange rate on income etc.

But anyway, they can apply. It’s the pension card and/or health concession card they don’t get until 10 years(could be longer by now!).

Never heard of free dental check, always used a private dentist via health insurance. If it is funded through community health there would likely be a waitlist. You could ask at Medicare or the dentist at the community health centre. If they are PR and have a full Medicare card they should be able to access it. The waitlists for community dental were very long in Geelong at the time so we used a private dentist for access and expediency.

Which visa is it? Is it the 143 CPV?

There is the sticky parents tgread on here that has lots of members who are at various stages so they may be able to help.

[mcgkerry]

Thanks Amber ..yes its a 143 CPV 

 

[Amber Snowball]

7 minutes ago, mcgkerry said:

Thanks Amber ..yes its a 143 CPV 

 

Reckon they’ll be right then. You can apply online I think from memory. Does it help with prescription costs?

make sure you register for the prescription safety net with Medicare. If they are on a heap of tablets it might help. Caps how much they have to spend on prescription costs each year.

[Bridgeman]

Your parents can apply for the Commonwealth Seniors Health card if they meet the age, residence and income tests.  See here

https://www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/commonwealth-seniors-health-card/eligibility/residence-descriptions

This will give them access to subsidised prescriptions (currently around $6??).  Plus in Queensland they will be eligible to apply for public dental treatment.  They will need to contact the local public dental clinic to be put on the waiting list.  It varies from area to area but currently in SE Queensland this is 18 months.  However, once on the waiting list when their turn comes around they will be called for a checkup,  but can also access the system if they have an emergency.

The Queensland Seniors card is more of a discount card which gives discounts off travel, some cafes offer discounts and other businesses.