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Requesting Medicare card numbers from customers for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and Medicare Safety Net 101-06100010

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This document outlines information for Centrelink staff about the collection of a customer and/or their dependant's Medicare card number(s) upon request from Medicare.

Helping customers provide their Medicare card numbers

Expand table

Step

Action

1

Determine if manual action required

This process is almost completely automated. Manual action will occur when the customer:

  • provides their Medicare card number
  • is a remote customer, or
  • contacts to provide or decline consent

Medicare has requested Centrelink to collect the Medicare card number for a Centrelink customer and/or their dependent child/ren.

Does the customer and/or child/ren have a current concessional entitlement to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)?

2

Check for valid Medicare card number

Is the customer’s current Medicare card number recorded through Identity Confirmation?

3

Customer contact following letter issue

The customer is sent a letter asking them to contact Centrelink if they do not consent to releasing their Medicare card number to Medicare.

Has the customer contacted Centrelink in response to the consent letter?

4

Passive consent - No response to letter

Passive consent is automatically recorded and the Medicare card number is electronically passed to Medicare.

Procedure ends here.

5

Manually update information

Use the Medicare Details Update guided procedure or manually record consent or refusal of consent.

Procedure ends here.

6

Check if customer lives in remote area

Is the customer identified as a remote customer?