Extending the return date for Carer Payment (CP) and Carer Allowance (CA) medical review 009-08030000

Granting an extension for the return of a medical review is at the Service Officer's discretion. Discuss with the carer the reasons for the request. Note: most requests from carers would be considered reasonable, and therefore normally accepted.

The carer has 21 days to complete the initial review forms. If the carer fails to return the review within 21 days a reminder letter is sent with no forms enclosed.

If the carer fails to respond to the reminder letter within 21 days (42 days in total) payments are suspended.

If no further response is received within 13 weeks of suspension, payment will be cancelled.

Carers should be encouraged to return the Care Needs Assessment section of the review as soon as possible (even if the medical report has not yet been completed by a THP), as recording the return of the Care Needs Assessment will prevent the carers payment being suspended by removing the review activity from Future Activity List (FAL).

Note: Child Care Load reviews, service components 427, 428 and 430, are not able to be extended or deferred.

Is the request reasonable?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 3

As there may be more than one care receiver, clarify with the carer which care receiver is being reviewed. In the carer's record go to the Care Receiver Summary (CRS) screen to obtain the care receiver's Customer Reference Number (CRN).

Automatic Medical Review

The medical review activity may exist on either the carer or care receiver’s record. To find the correct review activity, check the FAL screen on both records.

When the activity has been located:

• 'V'iew the activity from the FAL screen. Note: Do not ‘S’elect the activity from the FAL screen to place it on the Activity List (AL) screen. This will cancel all future auto processing
• The Future Activity (FAY) screen will display
• Change the date in the Action Date: field to the new date the review is due

If using Customer First:

• Type ‘FAL’ in the Next field. Press [Enter] or select the ‘Continue’ button
• Select the medical review by highlighting the activity. Choose the To VIEW a future activity via the FAY screen option within the Selection Options list. Select the Continue button
• Change the date in the Resubmit Date field to the new date the review is due

Manual Medical Reviews

A manual medical review is sent via a Request for Information (RFI) letter. For more information about the Process, see Requesting information (CLK)

When the RFI letter is issued, an open Integrated Review work item will be created within the Activities tab in Customer First. Check, and where applicable extend, the due date of the review activity to include extra days for mail delivery plus 1.

To review the due date:

• Select CRN/BP to go to the Customer Details screen
• Select the Activities tab in the lower section
• Open the Integrated Review by selecting the ID number to the far left of the row
• Select the Dates tab to view the review date. The review date must allow time for the customer to respond to the RFI

To edit the review date:

• In the Dates tab of the Integrated Review, select the Edit button at the top of the screen. This allows the fields to be changed
• Extend the review activity to include the required number of days for RFI delivery, plus 1 day. Enter a new date in the First Extension Request Date field

Note: Reviews can be deferred by a maximum of 28 days.

It is possible to defer both the reminder letter (the 'reminder/request contact stage') and the cancellation stage. However, it is only possible to defer both for 28 days in total - for example, if the reminder stage is deferred by 15 days, the cancellation stage is only able to be deferred by 13 days.

Advise the carer of the new review return date and record all details in a DOC.

Procedure ends here.

If the request is not reasonable or acceptable, advise the carer and record the details in a DOC including reasons why extension has not been approved.

Note: most requests from carers would be considered reasonable, and therefore normally accepted.