Health Care Card (HCC) not renewed/issued for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) customers 101-06020020

HCCs are issued automatically to the following customers who are in Australia and their residence information is correctly recorded. Customers:

• receiving:
• an eligible income support payment
• Carer Allowance (child) receive an HCC in the child's name only
• Mobility Allowance (MOB)
• entitled to receive the maximum legislative rate of FTB Part A as instalments (or for whom Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A rate is reduced only by the Maintenance Income Test), irrespective of whether or not the customer opts to receive a lower amount of FTB Part A under More Choice for Families (MCFF) options
• who would be eligible for the maximum rate of FTB Part A except that they only have the care of a Regular Care Child. Note: where reconciliation shows that an instalment recipient would have been eligible for the FTB HCC (but their agreed estimate exceeded the lower income threshold) it may be possible to obtain the HCC retrospectively

For automatically issued Pension Concession Cards, see Pension Concession Card (PCC).

An HCC is not automatically issued to a customer who is shown as a dependant on their partner's concession card. A customer in this situation who seeks an HCC should be advised to complete and lodge an application for a Low Income Health Care Card (LIC). Note: since 1 July 2009, partnered customers have been able to request to have their concession card reissued without their partner's name listed. This may be for privacy concerns the customer may have.

An HCC may not renew or issue for the following reasons:

• FTB has cancelled
• FTB Part A rate has reduced from maximum rate due to:
• the income test. Note: customers whose rate has been reduced by the maintenance income test are still entitled to receive an HCC
• customer failing the Maintenance Action Test (MAT) for all children in care. Note: for customers that have failed the MAT for all children and still require an HCC, see Process
• payment delivery method changed from instalment to end of year lump sum
• customer is no longer receiving an eligible income support payment
• a system fault has caused the card not to issue

Although a customer's partner does not need to meet residence requirements for FTB to be paid, under Social Security Law, the partner needs to meet the residency requirements for HCC purposes. This includes being noted as a partner on the customer's HCC issued via the FAO system. Proof of the partner's residency needs to be provided. Note: since 1 July 2009, partnered customers have been able to request to have their concession card reissued without their partner's name listed. This may be for privacy concerns the customer may have.

If a customer is a foster carer and an automatic HCC has not been issued, see Foster Child Health Care Card (FST).