Medicare Australia

[BHW]

My medicare card expired about 15 months ago, I'm going back to Australia later this year for a few weeks, does anybody know what is required to re new the card etc.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Will27]

This is from the Medicare website.

 

You will probably get more of a response if you ask the mods to move the post to the Home Country Forum.

Medicare is discussed quite often there.

If your card has expired

If your card expired 6 months ago or more, visit a service centre to request a replacement. You'll need an identity document, such as your driver’s licence. You may also need to show evidence you’re living in Australia. Remember to bring 2 documents to prove you live in Australia like a utility bill, rental agreement or employment.

If you’re overseas

If you’re overseas, we can’t replace your card until you return to Australia to live.

This includes if you’re:

• an Australian citizen who’s overseas for more than 5 years
• an Australian permanent resident or New Zealand citizen who’s overseas for more than 12 months

https://www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/enablers/expired-medicare-cards

 

[malt25]

I've been residing in LOS for 4 years. I return to OZ for about 2 weeks every 6 months to visit elderly mum. Last year I needed a new Medicare card. Went to local Centerlink office  & inquired how to obtain. Showed my current QLD drivers license. Was given a perprinted document as an interim card. New card arrived in the post within a few days.

Maybe I was just lucky.

[4MyEgo]

If you still have a residential address in Australia that Medicare know of, the card would have went to that address, as Medicare cards are normally renewed when expiring and get sent to the last known address, if you moved addresses and didn't tell them, when you are next in Oz, go to one of their offices, they will give you a temporary number and will send you one in the post within a few days. as the posters above said give them the docs they need, you can change your drivers licence address to a friends place that you can trust to put your mail aside if you haven't got a fixed address, as far as electricity bills etc etc, just tell them you that you rent a room at that address, and maybe get a signed letter from your mate stating that.

 

Good luck

[Techno Viking]

On 3/9/2018 at 8:41 AM, malt25 said:

I've been residing in LOS for 4 years. I return to OZ for about 2 weeks every 6 months to visit elderly mum. Last year I needed a new Medicare card. Went to local Centerlink office  & inquired how to obtain. Showed my current QLD drivers license. Was given a perprinted document as an interim card. New card arrived in the post within a few days.

Maybe I was just lucky.

My card was 5 years expired, went into centrelink and same as you, they gave me an interim number and new card arrived in the mail.

[4MyEgo]

On 12/03/2018 at 10:52 AM, Techno Viking said:

My card was 5 years expired, went into centrelink and same as you, they gave me an interim number and new card arrived in the mail.

 

                                                                                  Medicare 

Edited March 14, 2018 by 4MyEgo

[Techno Viking]

1 hour ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

                                                                                  Medicare 

Yea medicare and centrlink share the same place where I went but I just call it centrelink.

[ELVIS123456]

As can be seen, it is a hit and miss thing. Medicare seems to be a lot more relaxed about the rules than CLink.  If you have a current ID with address and photo (a valid driving licence) it seems you will be AOK.  If you dont and you want to give something a try, then when you get back get a Lease Agreement signed by a mate/relo (just use local State REI basic pro-forma). Take that and your Passport to local Motor Registry/Office and apply for a new driver's licence.  They will have details of your previous licences etc. Tell them you are just back in the country and need a licence. If all good , should be done then - including photo etc.  Take that with you into local MyGov Office and say you are back and want a new Medicare Card - show Licence, Passport, Lease and you should be sweet. It will be sent in the mail - maybe while you are there - but if not then maye/relo can mail it to you.  But - make sure you do this day 1/2 - Medicare and Clink know if you leave the country (automated Passport system) and if the notification of absence is checked in their approval process, they may not send it. Get in early and do it quickly.  But if you have a valid driving licence - then use that and Passport. 

 

Which is a good tip for guys looking to live in LOS - keep your licence valid - pay the renewal fees - it is an easy way to have a valid ID with name address and photo - for when it is needed.  Change it to your Mum's Brothers' Mate's place before you leave if you dont plan to keep a place - and keep paying it.  I recently read a story of a bloke who was overseas for a while, lost his Medicare card while away (it lapsed), and when he came back for a serious operation he had to pay.  They have cracked down on people doing this - you can enter as a citizen at any time, but if you only came back for medical care and you have no residence/home in Aust and therefore no Medicare card, then they can make you pay for any/all medical treatment.  But if you have a valid Medicare card (and keep your mouth shut), it doesnt matter if you are living overseas. 

 

[4MyEgo]

For anyone reading this of late, I have a MyGov account and am linked up to Medicare and Centrelink.

 

I have been living here in Thailand since 2015 as a foreign resident, and my Medicare card expires in 2019, and as I am going to Oz in a few months time, I was going to go to Medicare when I am there for a short stay and tell them that I lost my card (because it will be two years before I go back again), meaning my card would have expired, anyways, I thought of something else, so I visited their website through MyGov and saw that you can ask for a replacement card if you lost your card, "you little ripper"

 

So I report that my card was lost and asked for a replacement card and as I am using a mates address back home in Oz and also have a PO Box that Medicare knows of so they could send it to either.

 

Anyways my mate just sent me a photo of my new card which expires in 2023, they sent it to my PO Box that he checks every now and again, same number on the card as before, and as I will be in Oz in a few months will pick up my new card from my mate instead of having to go to Medicare, avoiding those long que's, yee ha !

 

I intend to see my GP and a couple of specialists and assume the card will still be working, as it did when I went back after being absent for 18 months as a foreign resident, might have had something to so with me transitioning and having paid tax for the previous year, anyways, I paid tax as a foreign resident this financial year so maybe I will get lucky again and get something back and my meds at the PBS rate again.

 

Will update when I get back.

[simple1]

If you're arranging for your GP to setup specialist appointments as a non private patient, unless the matter is urgent, be aware there can be very long waiting times, including for treatment. e.g. via Medicare I have been waiting two years for a specialist urinary procedure.

Edited May 10, 2018 by simple1

[4MyEgo]

4 hours ago, simple1 said:

If you're arranging for your GP to setup specialist appointments as a non private patient, unless the matter is urgent, be aware there can be very long waiting times, including for treatment. e.g. via Medicare I have been waiting two years for a specialist urinary procedure.

Thanks for the heads up, I always make my appointments 6 months ahead, I usually arrive on a weekend, stay off any minimal alcohol that I drink and fast on Sunday evening. See the GP Monday (appointment already made), get referrals, prescriptions and go get blood check, by the time I see my specialists a day or two later for normal check ups, they have the results, I then go back and see my GP.

 

It pays to plan ahead when your only there for a week, and yes as you say, for a procedure, you would have to book in well before, last procedure I had was done in a private hospital, $6,000 from my pocket, alternatively I had a 12 plus month waiting period which I didn't want to wait for, so if you can afford it, or don't want to wait, then its at your expense.