National Seniors Australia published an article on their website last week posing the question: Are self-funded retirees missing out on stimulus?

It makes the following key points:

• The government has followed up two earlier stimulus payments for self-funded retirees worth $750 each with two more payments of $250, to be delivered in December 2020 and March 2021.
• To be eligible, self-funded retirees must hold a Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card (CSHC).
• Deeming rates have recently reduced (which National Seniors takes full credit for!) meaning more self-funded retirees are likely to be eligible for the CSHC.
• In a scenario where a retiree has only deemed assets, the maximum assets for a single person is around $2.5M and a couple may have up to $4M of fully deemed assets.
• Retirees need to apply for a CSHC before 27th November for the first $250, or 26th February for the second payment.

So in addition to the benefits of reduced health care costs, there are 500 more reasons why re-assessing your client’s eligibility for the CSHC is a great idea. There is more information on the income test for CSHC here.

Have you re-assessed your clients recently in light of reduced deeming rates and potentially lower deemed asset values?

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