Cheaper drugs and medical appointments thwarted as opposition adds amendment to crucial bill

The Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Lifting the Income Limit for the Commonwealth Seniors Heath Card) Bill would have raised the income thresholds for seniors who could access to the card from $57,761 to $90,000 for singles and from $92,416 to $144,000 for couples (combined). This would make more people of age pension or veteran pension age eligible for medical and pharmaceutical concessions plus a range of other state and council concessions.

More than 44,000 newly eligible CSHC holders were expected to benefit within the first year of implementation and an additional 52,000 card holders would get access to the card by 2026-27.

However, the Opposition tacked on an unrelated amendment to the bill in the Senate last week, preventing it from passing into law and requiring seniors to wait at least an additional month before it can come into effect.

The bill will have to go back to the House of Representatives but Parliament is currently not sitting and will not return until October 25, which is Budget week.

This will be the earliest opportunity for the government to attempt to pass the legislation again.

The same bill was supported by the Opposition in the House of Representatives in July.

The Commonwealth Seniors Health Card allows older Australians ineligible for a Pension Concession Card to access cheaper medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), bulk-billed doctor visits (at the discretion of the provider) and the lower thresholds of the PBS and Extended Medicare safety nets. Some states and councils have concessions available to these card holders, including discounts on rates and licences.

Describing the amendment as a "political stunt", Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said she was appalled by the Liberal-National opposition's actions.

She said it needed to explain to older people why it was blocking cost of living relief at a time when it was most needed.

"This delay will mean eligible older Australians will continue to have to pay more to get medicines and go to the doctor until the bill passes into law," Ms Rishworth said.

The "unrelated" amendment involved the Opposition's proposal for a doubling of the pensioner work bonus from $300 to $600 per fortnight ($15,800 per annum).

The work bonus is the amount an age pensioner can earn through paid work before their pension is reduced by 50 cents in the dollar.

The government has proposed legislation before the Lower House which would add a one-off temporary $4000 increase to a pensioner's current annual work bonus "bank", raising it from $7800 to $11,800 this year. This proposal was announced after the Jobs and Skills Summit.

The measure is designed to enable pensioners who want to work to immediately boost the supply of labour to help meet shortages.

The $4000 temporary credit would be available until June 30, 2023, subject to the passage of legislation.

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Seniors' advocacy group the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association said increasing the work bonus was mainly good for pensioners already on it, but it was doubtful other pensioners would take it up in great numbers.

"The temporary, trial nature of the increase in work bonus may be a barrier for pensioners interested in earning employment income, because the increase may well cease after June 30, 2023," said policy manager Paul Versteege. "It's important to extend the trial to, say, June 30, 2024.

"CPSA would like to see changes to the current Centrelink employment income reporting requirements, which are unnecessarily onerous, complicated and punitive for pensioners taking advantage of work bonus."

National Seniors Australia has been campaigning for Australia to follow New Zealand's example and allow working pensioners to keep all their pension regardless of how much they earn, while paying tax on their gross income which would include their pension.

Chief advocate Ian Henschke said they hoped there would be some movement on their proposal in the upcoming budget.