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

The following reasons are used by the system to cancel CSHC when the customer's personal, residence or income information is updated. They are not for manual cancellation of CSHC:

• death of customer
• interstate transfer out
• whereabouts unknown
• not residing in Australia
• fail to return form (CSHC Income Review (SA400))
• fail to meet the Newly Arrived Resident’s Waiting Period (NARWP), or
• in receipt of a Services Australia income support payment
• in receipt of a Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) Service Pension, DVA Age Pension, Veteran Payment or Income Support Supplement (ISS)

Is CSHC to be cancelled for one of the above reasons?

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

Is the customer leaving Australia for more than the Portability timeframe?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 3

Is the customer advising of income over the allowable threshold?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 6

When the customer's adjusted taxable income (ATI) in the relevant reference tax year plus deemed income from account-based income streams is too high, they may provide estimated income for the current financial year if:

• their estimated income plus deemed income from account-based income streams will be below the income threshold, and
• a change in circumstances can be satisfactorily confirmed, and
• the change in circumstances is an acceptable condition for using an estimate of income for the CSHC income test

The estimate must be provided in writing along with a statement of fact from the customer and other appropriate supporting evidence before it can be accepted. The customer must also provide verification of income for the reference tax year in which their income has exceeded the income threshold.

Advise the customer what information is needed and send request for information, see Requesting information (CLK). Place the activity on hold for 14 days (plus time allowed to respond) from the date of the request.

Has the required information been received by the due date?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, the CSHC will need to be cancelled due to the known income over the threshold, or lack of response. Go to Step 1 in Table 2

The customer may be reassessed using the estimate of ATI for the current financial year if the ATI plus deemed income from account-based income streams:

• is below the CSHC income threshold
• the estimate amount has been satisfactorily demonstrated; and
• the change in circumstances is an acceptable condition for using an estimate of income for the CSHC income test

The estimated income needs to be updated on the SHC Income Details (SHID) screen. If the income from the previous reference tax year, as verified in the Notice of Assessment (NOA) has not been recorded, ensure it is also coded on the SHID screen.

Select the system being used.

• For an income assessment see Step 1 in Table 2
• For all other cancellation reasons See Step 6 in Table 2

• Key 'SHC' in the Sys field > [Enter]
• Go to the SHTS screen. From this screen, select the screens to either manually or automatically cancel the CSHC
• For an income assessment including estimated income (EST or INC):
• Select SHC Income Details and Assessment Results > [Enter]
• See Step 1 in Table 2
• All other cancellation reasons:
• See Step 6 in Table 2

If the customer is leaving Australia, the absence must be recorded. Service Officers must use the Portability Script - Departures and Returns. If the script is not available, see Portability of concession cards.

If the customer is leaving Australia permanently, the Country of Residence (CRES) screen will also need to be updated.

When information is updated and finalised the system will assess a customer's CSHC entitlement and automatically cancel if required. There are 3 cancellation codes for CSHC customers going overseas.

• If the customer leaves Australia temporarily before 1 January 2015, their CSHC will remain current for 6 weeks and then cancel for the reason 'O6W'. If the customer leaves Australia temporarily on or after 1 January 2015, their CSHC will remain current for 19 weeks and then cancel for the reason ‘O19’. Quarterly supplement can be paid for the first 6 weeks of a temporary absence and any quarterly supplement accrued before the date of payment cancellation will be paid to the customer. Quarterly supplement will be automatically restored from the customer’s date of return to Australia provided they keep entitlement to the card and their period of absence did not exceed 19 weeks. The customer will not be entitled to any further payment of quarterly supplement until return to Australia
• For permanent departures, the CSHC will be cancelled SHC/CAN-NAU from date of departure. Quarterly supplement cannot be paid for a permanent departure from Australia. Any quarterly supplement accrued before the date of departure will be paid to customer. Customer will not be entitled to any further payment of quarterly supplement from date of departure

Before finalising the cancellation action, discuss the decision with the customer.

Procedure ends here.

Does the customer have any deemed income from account-based income streams?

• Yes:
• For information on how to update an existing account-based income stream, or added a new account-based income stream, see Adding or updating an account-based income stream
• When the update of account-based income stream is complete, go to Step 2
• If customer has failed to respond to an information request, e.g. to confirm details or ownership, and the update is unable to be completed, see Automated income stream review handoffs for manual processing. Go to Step 6 to cancel the CSHC
• No, go to Step 2

This screen records all of customer's and/or partner's income details. The same financial year must be used for both members of a couple. Updates to the customer's and partner's income on the SHID screen must be performed within the one activity, otherwise the reassessment will not be able to be finalised.

In Process Direct:

• Go to the Seniors Health Card income summary and details (SHID) screen
• Select Add on the Income details table

In Customer First:

• Key 'SHID' in Next
• For help, key ‘?’ in the field > [Enter]

These fields are compulsory:

• Date of Event: is the date that the change occurred. This may be different from the date of receipt:
• Use the date the Notice of Assessment (NOA) was issued plus 12 business days. However, if scanned to customer record prior to this date use the date of receipt
• For customers who are not required to lodge an income tax return, the date of event is the date they advised the ATO of this
• For customers who are providing a current year estimate use the date of receipt
• Reference Tax Year: Note: members of a couple need to provide information relating to the same financial year:
• Notice of Assessment (NOA): key the financial year of the NOA or the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) lodgement extension. The NOA or lodgement extension has to be within 2 years of the current financial year. The most recent NOA should be used. Use the year that the financial year ended, for example, for 2016-17 code 2017
• Not required to lodge an income tax return: key the relevant financial year that is one of the previous 2 financial years. The current financial year cannot be used
• Estimate: if an estimate is used it needs to be for the current financial year and for an acceptable condition for using an estimate of income for the CSHC income test. Key the year that the financial year is to end in, for example, 2013-14 code 2014.
  If the customer is not required to lodge a tax return either because their income is below the tax free threshold or as a result of an ATO tax offset, it is not considered an estimate. Do not code these cases as an estimate, code them as 'not required to lodge' (NRL)
• Income Type: key one of the following:
• 'TNA' for a NOA and for customers who have been granted an ATO lodgement extension
• 'EST' for an estimate
• 'NRL' where a customer does not have a NOA because their income is either below the tax free threshold or as a result of an ATO tax offset
• Taxable Income: key one of the following:
• key the amount from the NOA or for customers who have been granted an ATO lodgement extension an estimate of what their ATI is likely to be for either of the previous 2 financial years. Note: if a person has accessed superannuation under the First Home Super Saver (FHSS) Scheme these withdrawals require special consideration.
• the current year estimate, or
• the customer's taxable income below the tax lodgement threshold. That is, customer does not have a NOA because their income is either below the tax free threshold or as a result of an ATO tax offset
  Note: customers who have provided an estimate for the current financial year that has been accepted must also have their verified income that is over the income limit from either of the last 2 financial years recorded on SHID screen. After the estimate has been coded, the NOA is to be recorded using the date before the claim DOV, for example, DOV - 1 day
  Customers required to lodge a tax return but unable to provide income details from either of the previous 2 financial years because they have not yet lodged their tax return with the ATO and who do not have an ATO lodgement extension, are not permitted to use a current year estimate of their income. The customer’s CSHC claim must be manually cancelled. Go to Step 6.
• Date of Receipt: date the customer advises of the change and is the date from which the card is cancelled

The following fields are completed only if relevant to customer:

• Foreign Income $: key the Australian dollar value
• Net Investment Losses $: key details from the NOA or the estimate
• Employer Provided Benefits $: (also known as fringe benefits), the first $1000 is ignored. Only key amounts over $1000, for example, if customer received $3200, only key $2200
• Reportable Super Contributions $: key details applicable to customer
• Before finalising the cancellation action, discuss the decision with the customer

Complete details as required. If income is too high the system will automatically cancel the CSHC.

Go to Step 7.

Is the cancellation for a residence related reason?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 5

The customer's residence qualification will be automatically assessed as long as the residence information is correctly recorded.

A customer's CSHC will only cancel automatically if the residence information provided at the claim has changed (for example, visa subclass) or was incorrect at the time of the claim. Changes in visa subclass will be automatically advised by the Department of Home Affairs if the datalink with them is active.

If the datalink is not active, it will need to be activated to obtain the necessary information.

If the customer is no longer residing in Australia, the information will need to be manually recorded on the Country of Residence (CRES) screen.

Finalising the cancellation action:

Discuss the decision with the customer

• In Process Direct:
• go to SAP Warning and Errors (SWE)
• select Assess to go to the Entitlement (ELD) screen
• check the results on the ELD and ensure all the correct action
• select Finish to finalise the activity
• In Customer First:
• go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen
• finalise the activity

A manual letter (Q999) will need to be issued.

Procedure ends here.

There are certain cancellations, as listed in Step 1 of Table 1 that can only be processed by changing the customer's personal information. This information then creates an automatic cancellation of CSHC.

If CSHC is to be cancelled for these reasons, update the personal information.

In Customer First, select the screens required as follows:

Death

• Process death action, see Confirmation of the death of an adult or child
• The system will automatically cancel CSHC
• If a GCANSHCDEA advice is generated, see Creating an Online Advice (OLA), including within an existing activity to cancel the activity

• Interstate transfer out: action the inter-environment change of address (COA) first and the system will then cancel CSHC. Finalise action
• Whereabouts unknown: update customer's address. When no address is recorded the system will automatically cancel CSHC
• go to the CDTS screen, 'S'elect the Address option and update the address for customer. For coding help, see Return to sender (RTS) mail for Centrelink
• finalise activity
• Failed to return SA400: for a cancellation due to failure to return form (CSHC Income Review (SA400)
• Disqualifying DVA payment:
• key all income details on DVA screen - system will action cancellation. For coding help, see Payments from the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) and referrals to the DVA Clearance Team
• cancellation can also occur via Datalink with DVA
• before finalising the cancellation action, discuss the decision with the customer
• finalise activity

Procedure ends here.

Select the system being used.

Process Direct

• Go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen using Super Key
• Select Add New
• In the Create Benefit Action screen, select:
• Benefit Type Code: 'SHC'
• Benefit Action: select CAN – CANCEL
• Reason: select appropriate manual cancellation reason code. See Cancellation codes for CSHC for list of codes
  Note: select ‘FRC or FSD’ if due to failure to reply to correspondence or supply documents (including for Automated Income Stream Reviews)
• Date of Effect: key today’s date
• Select Save
• Complete the Receipt Date and Channel details, select Save

Customer First

• Go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen
• Complete the following fields:
• Service Reason: select ‘SHC’ for Senior Health Card
• Action: select 'CAN' - CANCEL
• Reason: select the appropriate manual cancellation reason code. See Cancellation codes for CSHC for list of codes
  Note: select ‘FRC or FSD’ if due to failure to reply to correspondence or supply documents (including for Automated Income Stream Reviews)
• Date of Effect: key today’s date
• Complete the Source and Receipt Date fields then select Submit Change

When all information has been updated, check if the CSHC is cancelling and the reason for the cancellation.

Before finalising the cancellation action, discuss the decision with the customer.

Process Direct:

• Select Assess
• Address any errors/warnings presenting on the Errors (SWE) screen
• Select Assess again
• The Entitlements (ELD) screen will display, check that outcome is correct
• Select Finish to finalise the transaction
• Record details of the update in the finalisation DOC template
• Select Finalise

Note: if the customer is now being assessed on an income estimate for the current financial year, the notes must include the customer's stated reasons for the reduction in their income

Customer First

• Key AR in the Next field
• Address any errors/warnings presenting on the AWE screen
• Select Continue
• Finalise activity
• Record details on a DOC
  Note: if the customer is now being assessed on an income estimate for the current financial year, the DOC must include the customer's stated reasons for the reduction in their income
• SHC advice will not be generated immediately. If the advice fails to generate by end-of-day an MFU will automatically be created. This will be allocated to a Service Officer for the letter to be manually created. See Letters and customer advices for more information