Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Water Resources and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak against the Social Security and Veterans’ Entitlements Amendment (Commonwealth Seniors Health Card) Bill 2009 because I believe it is not in the best interests of our senior Australians. This legislation effectively cuts 22,000 self-funded retirees off from their concession cards. The Commonwealth seniors health card is provided to non-wealthy self-funded retirees, mainly to allow them concessions on health care and pharmaceuticals. Because allowable income thresholds are applied, this card is widely recognised as a means-test provision to identify those self-funded retirees needing some assistance.

Currently the threshold limits are $50,000 for singles and $80,000 for couples living together. This dollar amount refers to adjusted taxable income and does not include non-taxable drawings from a taxed superannuation fund. If this legislation is passed, the threshold limits will remain the same and superannuation drawings from a taxed fund will remain untaxed, but those drawings will be added to a person’s adjusted taxable income for the purposes of assessing eligibility within the threshold limits. This will mean that many self-funded retirees will lose their health cards from 1 July this year.

For seniors who lose the Commonwealth seniors health card, the effects are dire. One effect will be the increased cost of prescribed pharmaceuticals. Under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, cardholders pay $5.30 per script. After losing the card, they will pay $32.90. Another effect relates to the PBS safety net. With the seniors health card, a senior reaches the safety net threshold when he or she has paid a total of $318 for scripts. Prescriptions after that are free. Without the Commonwealth seniors health card, the safety net threshold rises to $1,264.90, after which a fee of $5.30 per script still applies. This will mean that many of these self-funded retirees will go without. They will choose not to purchase medicine when they reach the threshold limit and will put their health at risk. These people have grown up in a time when it was the done thing to put yourself last, but unfortunately, in their senior years, when it comes to medication this will have dire effects.

Another effect relates to the seniors concession allowance. With the Commonwealth seniors health card, a senior is eligible to receive an annual allowance of $500 to assist with the payment for essential services for which pensioners are granted concessions. At 1 July 2009, many seniors will lose their entitlement. The telephone allowance will also be affected. Cardholders currently qualify for a telephone allowance of $34.60 paid every three months for a residential service. If they lose their card, they lose this allowance. The Commonwealth seniors health card also allows holders to benefit from a range of concessions granted at the discretion of providers. These include medical bulk-billing and concessions for household, transport, education, recreation and entertainment costs. These concessions will be greatly missed by persons who become ineligible for the card under this system.

The simple fact is that non-wealthy self-funded retirees who have planned prudently for their retirement with little dependence on government support will be hard-hit by the proposed changes to their eligibility for the Commonwealth seniors health card. Self-funded retirees have done a great job in looking after their own interests and have worked hard to ensure they can provide for themselves during their senior years. A seniors health card is something that provides these hardworking Australians with a small amount of comfort and gives them the opportunity to receive discounts that can make a big difference to their daily costs.

Self-funded retirees have perhaps been the group hardest hit by the current economic downturn, and they are really hurting. Many of them have lost large amounts of their superannuation and are having to watch their dollars closely. Many of them have lost close to 50 per cent of their retirement nest eggs. They have been largely ignored in the Rudd government’s stimulus packages, and there has also been no real investment in aged-care infrastructure in the packages, which means this sector of our society will be fighting a losing battle in the years ahead. On top of this they are now faced with the possibility of losing their health cards. This legislation is a slap in the face for self-funded retirees.

The coalition are strongly opposed to Labor’s proposed changes and we are not supporting this bill. The coalition are not the only group opposed to these changes. I have had many groups and individuals in my electorate of Parkes contact me in relation to this issue, and they are all strongly against this legislation. One particular person who has contacted me about this—and I spoke to him last Friday—is Brian Semmler, who is the vice president of the New South Wales division of the Association of Independent Retirees, commonly known as the AIR. Earlier in the week, Brian had emailed me and said:

In my view this is a pathetic measure, as many of the present holders of the card are elderly, not in good health, and will have enormous outlays for pharmaceuticals and lose other benefits which will impact on their financial survival. Clearly the best solution to this problem is to throw out the proposed Legislation.

On Friday afternoon, I spoke to the Dubbo branch of the Association of Independent Retirees, and what is normally a modest gathering was a large crowd. In excess of 100 self-funded retirees turned up to this meeting in Dubbo. It made me feel very angry to see how frightened and confused they felt. Their feeling was that they had been abandoned, with no recognition of their hard work and the savings and sacrifices that they had made through their entire working lives, just to get to this particularly vulnerable stage in their lives and then be treated with such callousness. Self-funded retirees deserve the government’s respect and consideration, and this legislation is not in their best interests.

The coalition paid off Labor’s $96 billion in debt and extended support to our seniors, including self-funded retirees. Now, some of the first casualties of Labor’s debt train wreck are our senior Australians, many of whom can least afford it. The Rudd government is penalising the people who have done the right thing and saved for their retirement.

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