Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) concessions 101-06010000

To receive a concession on prescription medicines, customers must show their Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) and their Medicare card to the pharmacist each time they have a prescription filled.

In some circumstances, customers may have to pay more than the concessional amount if the medicine is not listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) or is only partially covered. Customers will need to talk to their doctor or pharmacist about cheaper alternatives. For the concession amount payable, see Extra concession information.

For enquiries about the cost of prescription medicines, see Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) - general enquiries.

A safety net exists to assist people who require a lot of medication.

When a customer has accrued the safety net amount on PBS prescription medicines in a calendar year, they are entitled to free PBS medicines for the rest of the calendar year.

Customers will need to keep their own record of the amount spent on prescriptions. To find out the current safety net amount, see Extra concession information.

Concessions are available from the Great Southern Railway for travel on:

• The Ghan: Travel from Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide to Alice Springs
• Indian Pacific: Travel from Sydney to Perth
• The Overland: Travel between Adelaide and Melbourne

For railway concessions, see Public transport - state and territory for contact details.

The CSHC is issued by the Commonwealth Government. Some States and Territories may offer further concessions to holders of both CSHCs and State Seniors Cards. Note: these are two different cards and are often confused. Provision of these concessions is entirely at the discretion of the concession providers.

For more information, advise customers to contact the relevant Department in their State or Territory. See the State and territory contact details in Extra concession information.

Quarterly supplement or (Energy Supplement) is paid each quarter on or soon after the test days of 20 March, 20 June, 20 September and 20 December.

From 20 March 2017, new recipients of family assistance and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) will not be paid Energy Supplement. Customers who are paid Energy Supplement with their income support payment, family payment or CSHC prior to 20 September 2016 will continue to receive the energy supplement with their payment or concession card from 20 March 2017 onwards as long as they continue to meet the eligibility requirements.

Customers who first received the Energy Supplement on or after 20 September 2016 with their family assistance payment or CSHC, can only be paid until 19 March 2017. From 20 March 2017, they will no longer receive Energy Supplement.

Bulk billing of general practitioner appointments is available for holders of the CSHC.

Note: this is at the discretion of the doctor concerned.

Dependants or partners of CSHC cardholders are not eligible for concessions through the holder's card.

They may test their eligibility for a Low Income Health Care Card (LIC) or CSHC in their own right.

The CO153 can be issued:

• manually at a service centre
• using the Mail Forms workflow
• using the First Contact Service Offer (FCSO) workflow

Customers can request a replacement card using their Centrelink online account.

Re-issue or replacement of the CSHC is done via the Concession Card Issue Summary (CCIS) screen. For full details on how to issue this card, see How to reissue concession cards.

If customer needs a replacement concession card urgently, see Confirming concession card entitlement and issuing interim vouchers.