Yahoo Finance CLAIM YOURS BACK: $110 million up for grabs for 670,000 Medicare customers
The Australian government is appealing to 670,000 Aussies to claim a slice of $110 million that they don’t even know could be theirs.
These Aussies who haven’t provided Medicare with their bank details are losing potentially millions of dollars in rebates, the Minister for Human Services and Digital Transformation, Michael Keenan said today.
“We are again reminding those who haven’t given Medicare their bank account details that they need to take action now,” he said.
“The Coalition Government would much rather see this money sitting in your pockets instead of ours.”
Each individual is owed around $150 on average.
But if you’re making regular visits to the doctor or if you’ve had treatment for a serious medical condition, you could be owed far more.
No bank account? No problem. You can nominate a friend, relative or even an institution to receive payment on your behalf.
This could be me. How do I get my money back?
The money’s yours – you just need to provide Medicare with your bank account details.
The easiest way to do this is to use the Medicare Express Plus app or hop onto your myGov account online.
From there, Medicare will take care of the rest and you’ll have your money sitting in your bank account within a matter of days, Keenan said.
“My advice is set aside a couple of minutes as soon as possible to do what is a really simple task that will ensure you receive what you are entitled to quickly and easily.”
Affected Medicare customers will also be sent letters over the next few weeks.
Watch out for scammers
But while you’re doing this, you should keep an eye out for scammers posing as Medicare asking you for your bank details, the Department of Services warned.
“As recently as late last year, scammers were actively targeting people through SMS messages that urged them to click on a hyperlink to claim their outstanding Medicare rebates,” Keenan said.
The department may contact you through the phone, SMS or email from time to time, but it will never include hyperlinks in emails or text messages for you to click on.
“The reminder letters that will be going out shortly will contain clear instructions about what you need to do.”
If you have any doubts about any correspondence you’ve received from entities claiming to be Medicare, call the Medicare general enquiries line on 132 011, or visit your local Medicare service centre.
Medicare’s general enquiries line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can access your Medicare account through my.gov.au.
Visit humanservices.gov.au/medicareonline for more information on how to set up your medicare account.
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