6 — Vetaffairs Winter 2014
Gold Card eligibility
The DVA Health Card – For All Conditions (Gold Card) enables
access to health care and related services at DVA expense, for all
health conditions, not just those related to a veteran’s Australian
Defence Force (ADF) service, and is provided to certain veterans
according to eligibility criteria established under the Veterans’
Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA) and the Military Rehabilitation and
Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA).
Veterans eligible for a Gold Card include ex-prisoners of war,
those who are severely disabled as a result of their service, or those
who have qualifying service and have reached 70 years of age.
Essentially, qualifying service is service in a war or a conflict.
The Gold Card is provided for this type of service in recognition
of the unquantifiable effects of combat and service. Under the
current arrangements, all veterans who served in wars such as
Vietnam and Afghanistan will automatically receive a Gold Card
when they turn 70.
However, service requirements also mean that some service
personnel will serve only at locations within Australia and therefore will not have the necessary qualifying service for a Gold
Card, but may still be eligible for the card due to their level of
incapacity.
Eligibility for a Gold Card by a veteran’s partner is different. A
veteran’s spouse or de-facto partner’s eligibility for a Gold Card
is linked to their eligibility for compensation payments such as the
war widow(er)’s pension under the VEA or equivalent dependant’s compensation payment under MRCA.
Generally, a veteran’s death must be proven to be related to
their service in order for their widow(er) to receive compensation and the accompanying Gold Card.
However, in some circumstances, compensation payments to
widow(er)s (together with the Gold Card), are granted automatically, such as where the veteran was an ex-prisoner of war or was
eligible under the VEA for:
• the Extreme Disablement Adjustment, or
• disability pension at the Intermediate Rate, the Temporary
Special Rate or the Special Rate, or
• a disability pension at an increased rate for certain conditions, such as amputations and blindness.
Furthermore, under MRCA, if the deceased veteran met the
eligibility criteria for the Special Rate Disability Pension during
some period of his or her life or had been assessed as suffering
an impairment of 80 or more impairment points as a result of
service injuries or diseases, a Gold Card is granted.
When a veteran passes away, their Gold Card is not transferred to their surviving partner. Instead, in the circumstances
described above, the widowed spouse or dependant would
receive their own Gold Card.
Although not every ex-member of the ADF will be eligible for
a Gold Card, they may be eligible for a White Card or Orange
Card which can offer considerable help with the cost of medicines or treatment.
The DVA Health Card – For Specific Conditions (White Card)
is issued where an Australian veteran or mariner has specific,
accepted war or service-caused injuries or diseases and covers
the cost of treatment related to those injuries or diseases.
The DVA Health Card – For Pharmaceuticals Only (Orange
Card) covers the cost of pharmaceuticals and is issued to Commonwealth and allied veterans and mariners aged 70 years and
over, who have been resident in Australia for 10 years or more,
and who have qualifying service from either the First or Second
World War.
New DVA Health Cards arriving now
Throughout June 2014 all DVA Health Cards (Gold, White and
Orange) were reissued to all eligible veterans, war widows and
dependants. Most people would have already received their new
card, but if not, your card is not far away. To coincide with the reissue, the DVA Health Cards have been revamped to give a more
contemporary look.
In addition to existing features, the new DVA Health Cards
include:
• an Anzac Centenary logo on a background of a field of poppies;
• a longer signature stripe on the back of the card; and
• the DVA security hologram on the front of the card, providing
greater visibility of this security feature.
Cards are now valid for six years, instead of four years (as previously issued). Most importantly, the new cards will continue to
provide you with access to DVA funded health care.
When you receive your new DVA Health Card, destroy your old
card as it will no longer be valid.
New look Pensioner Concession Card
The DVA Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) is
undergoing a few cosmetic changes to help with
better recognition and identification of cardholders. The new look card will commence with the
2015 annual issue, which will be mailed to eligible
clients between September and October this year.
to quickly and correctly determine your concession eligibility.
Individual issue of cards
In the past, members of a couple received their
PCCs together. The 2015 PCC will now be mailed
individually to all eligible clients, along with a
fridge magnet calendar. This change aims to simplify the card production process and eliminates
production and distribution problems.
Importantly, there is no change to how you
prove your eligibility for available concessions.
Concession providers will tell you what proof they
need. You can continue to show your DVA PCC.
Should the provider ask for your UIN, you can
simply show them your PCC or read out the number as it appears on your card.
For more information on the DVA Pensioner
Concession Card, contact DVA on 133 254 or from
regional Australia free call 1800 555 254.
What’s changing?
Colour and design
The colour and design of the card will be more
closely aligned with the PCC issued by the
Department of Human Services (Centrelink). In
particular, your State/Territory name will be displayed in text only, rather than by text and graphic
as it previously appeared. This will make it easier
for concession providers to recognise the DVA
card.
Inclusion of a Unique Identification Number
The 2015 PCC will include your Unique Identification Number (UIN) in addition to your DVA
File Number. The UIN is used in DVA computer
systems to help identify DVA clients. As some clients have multiple state-based file numbers, and
families share the same file number, including your
UIN on your PCC will help third party concession
providers check your eligibility for rebates, concessions or services.
Most concession providers are now confirming eligibility electronically. However, computer
systems are unable to exactly match DVA file
numbers on every occasion, and this can cause
problems for individuals and providers. The addition of the UIN on every card will assist providers
Indexation of rates 1 July 2014
From 1 July 2014 the Income Free Areas and Assets Value Limits used to calculate rates of income
support pensions have risen.
The amount of income (per fortnight) that an income support pensioner may receive before their
pension is reduced under the income test:
Single rate
(fortnightly)
Service or Age Pension
$160.00
$1,313.00
Income Support Supplement [war widow(er)’s pension is
included in these amounts]
Different limits apply if assessed under transitional rules
Couples rate – combined
(fortnightly)
$284.00
$1,773.60
The maximum value of assets a person can have before their pension is affected:
Single rate
Couples rate – combined
Homeowner
$202,000
$286,500
Non-homeowner
$348,500
$433,000
Homeowner
$586,500
$783,500
Non-homeowner
$733,000
$930,000
Service or Age Pension
Income Support Supplement
Different limits apply if assessed under transitional rules
The deeming thresholds have also increased. This means that the value of financial assets deemed to
be earning the lower rate of 2.0 per cent has risen. The higher deeming rate of 3.5 per cent is applied to the
balance of financial assets over these thresholds.
Single rate
Couples rate – combined
Deeming threshold
$48,000
$79,600
Some payments under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA) also increased,
including:
New rate (weekly)
Maximum Permanent Impairment amount
$324.60
Maximum rate of Household Services
$459.61
Maximum rate of Attendant Care Services
$459.61
Dependent eligible young person
$138.99
A full list of the new rates
under the MRCA is available
in factsheet MRC04. For further information contact DVA
on 133 254 or from regional
Australia free call 1800 555 254
or visit www.dva.gov.au