Cancellation of Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) 065-06060020

When making an unfavourable decision, speak to the customer:

• explain the decision
• give them a chance to provide more information, and
• advise their review and appeal rights

Customers leaving Australia temporarily from 1 January 2015 will keep entitlement to a CSHC for the maximum portability period of 19 weeks from departure. After this the system will cancel their CSHC.

CSHC holders will keep entitlement to the quarterly supplement for the maximum portability period of 6 weeks from departure, and then these payments will cancel.

In most cases CSHC customers do not need to advise they are leaving Australia temporarily for less than 6 weeks or when they have returned from a temporary absence. However, there are situations when customers should advise departure before leaving Australia or contact when they have returned to Australia.

If the customer has an active link with the Department of Home Affairs, their return date will be automatically updated when they return to Australia. For those customers who do not have an active Department of Home Affairs link, the date they returned to Australia will need to be manually recorded.

Customers whose CSHC is cancelled following their imprisonment lose their entitlement to it and will not be able to claim the CSHC while in prison.

Some cancellation reasons can be coded manually. The system will automatically cancel CSHC if the correct information was updated on the appropriate CSHC screen. If a cancellation can be processed by the system, this is the preferred option. This will make it easier if the customer contacts, as all the information is available without the need for the file/paperwork at the first contact.

Following ‘Death action’ processing, the automated OLA/Advice ‘GCANSHCDEA’ may be created. This advice is a shell and has no generated text. See Creating an Online Advice (OLA), including within an existing activity to delete this shell advice.

A customer may need to be manually cancelled where they have failed to reply to correspondence or supply documents. (including Automated Income Stream Reviews).

A customer's income for the previous reference tax year plus any deemed income from account-based income streams might be over the CSHC income limit. However, if it is likely to be lower in the current financial year, they can provide an estimate of their income.

The department will not accept an estimate unless the customer can demonstrate a change in circumstances and is an acceptable condition for using an estimate of income for the CSHC income test.

If the estimate is accepted the customer's CSHC entitlement may be continued. This will be based on the current year adjusted taxable income (ATI) estimate plus any deemed income from account-based streams.

The estimated income should be the amount coded on the customer record in lieu of the previous year's income. Any estimate must be provided in writing along with a statement of fact from the customer and other appropriate supporting evidence.

Under subsection 68(4) of the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999, a CSHC customer is required to inform the Department if a specific event or change of circumstance is likely to occur.

A customer’s CSHC should only be cancelled under section 104 of the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 if the event or change of circumstance has actually occurred. This means the person is required to inform the department if they expect their adjusted taxable income to exceed the limits. However, their CSHC should only be cancelled when the customer has notified, or it is known that their income has exceeded the limits.

Under section 122 of the Social Security (Administration) Act, an adverse determination (a decision to cancel) relating to concession cards takes effect from the day on which it is made (with provision for a later date). The 14 day notification rule does not apply and the date of receipt will be the date from which the card is cancelled.

For example, a customer advises on 16 February 2012 of income over the CSHC income limit on 15 January 2012 when customer received Notice of Assessment (NOA). This is coded on the SHC Income Details (SHID) screen with a Date of Event (DOE) 15 January 2012. The CSHC will be cancelled from Date of Receipt of the information 16 February 2012.