Medicare Rebates
Medicare rebates payment is a yearly payment to help with energy costs to run medical equipment or medically required heating or cooling.
Who is eligible
You can get this payment if you or the person you care for:
– needs heating, cooling or certain equipment for their medical needs
– has a Commonwealth Concession Card, and
– pay for running costs
NOTE: Dependent children can’t claim this payment.
Proof
You must provide a medical certificate and prove:
– that a government scheme covers the equipment.
– the equipment meets Department of Veterans’ Affairs Rehabilitation.
Appliances Program rules
– you or the person you care for pays the running costs.
– Equipment and medical conditions.
Equipment
You can only get the payment if you have a:
– Dialysis machine.
– Ventilator.
– Respirator.
– Parenteral or enteral feeding device.
– Oxygen concentrator.
– Heart pump.
– Suction pump.
– Infant apnoea monitor – medically prescribed.
– Nebuliser – used daily.
– Positive airways pressure device.
– Phototherapy equipment.
– Air bed vibrator.
– Electric wheelchair.
– Insulin pump.
Equipment with non-rechargeable batteries is not eligible for the medicare rebates.
If the medical equipment you use is not listed above, it might be under a different name.
Read below different names for essential medical equipment or speak to a professional about different names.
| Equipment | Alternative names |
| Airbed vibrator | Alternating pressurised air mattress |
| Alternating air mattress | |
| Alternating pressure mattress | |
| Home dialysis machine | Home dialysis |
| Machine assisted peritoneal dialysis equipment (cycler or heater) | |
| Kidney dialysis machine | |
| Intermittent peritoneal dialysis machine | |
| Haemodialysis machine | |
| Peritoneal-dialysis machine | |
| Home parenteral or enteral feeding device | Total parenteral nutrition pump |
| Feeding pump | |
| Enteral feeding pump | |
| Formerly known as kangaroo pump | |
| Heart pump | External heart pump |
| Nebuliser – used daily | |
| Oxygen concentrator | Child concentrator |
| Standard capacity (adult) | |
| High capacity ‘New Life Intensity’ (adult) | |
| OXCP (combination oxygen concentrator and chronic positive pressure and airways regulator) | |
| Positive airways pressure device | Continuous Positive Airways Pressure regulator – CPAP |
| Chronic positive pressure and airways regulator | |
| Intermittent Positive Airways Pressure device – IPAP | |
| APAP- automatic adjustment of the degree of positive pressure | |
| Bi-Valve – combines the specifications of a positive airways pressure and of a respirator. | |
| Home respirator | Iron lung |
| Home ventilator | Formerly known as ‘respirator’ |
| VPAP or BPAP only |
Medical conditions
You can get the payment for medicare medical equipment rebates if you experience:
Spinal cord injury at or above the T7 level
Stroke
Brain injury
Neurodegenerative disorders
Muscular Dystrophies
Full thickness burns on more than 20% of your body
Rare sweating disorders including congenital absence or mal-development of sweat glands
Chronic erythrodermas
Residence rules
If you or the person you care for holds a concession card, you meet the residence rules.
Travelling outside Australia
Report your travel plans through your Centrelink online account to avoid disappointment.
How much you get
The most you can get is $154 each year.
How to claim
You can do this online, by post or at a CentreLink service center.
Before you start
Have your completed claim form together with all supporting documents to submit your claim.
Start your claim online
If you’ve receive a payment or a service, you can use your Customer Reference Number (CRN) to get an online account.
Find your CRN on a letter or your Health Care Card, if you have one. Then, go to myGov to create a myGov account and use your CRN to link Centrelink.
To make a claim online for your medicare rebates on medical equipment you need a Centrelink online account linked to myGov.
Sign in to myGov to start your claim.
You may need to complete the: Essential Medical Equipment Payment – Equipment User Declaration form
You also have the right to appeal if you believe a decision is incorrect.
Other Possible Rebates in Your Favour
You may also be entitled to an electricity rebate for running CPAP, BiPAP or VPAP machines, depending on the rules in your state.
Electricity Rebates for Life Support Machines by State
ACT
https://www.assistance.act.gov.au/adult/utilities/life_support_rebate
New South Wales
https://www.resourcesandenergy.nsw.gov.au/energy-consumers/financial-assistance/rebates/life-support-rebates
Tasmania
http://www.concessions.tas.gov.au/concessions/electricity_and_heating/life_support_machine_rebate
Western Australia
http://www.finance.wa.gov.au/cms/uploadedFiles/_State_Revenue/Other_Schemes/Life_Support_Equipment_Information_Sheet.pdf?n=8629
Queensland
https://campaigns.premiers.qld.gov.au/smart-savings/
https://www.health.qld.gov.au/qhsdp/asp/eligbility
Victoria
https://www.vic.gov.au/health-community/disability-services/aids-equipment.html
South Australia
https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/care-and-support/financial-support
The Essential medicare medical equipment rebates payment is paid annually from the Federal Government who experience additional energy costs from the use of eligible essential medical equipment.
For more information check out the Australian Government Human Services website:
https://www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/essential-medical-equipment-payment
You should check with your doctor before making a purchase or making a claim just to make sure you can fulfill all the conditions.
Ref:
humanservices.gov.au
sleepoz.org.au
Blog Date: June 2018 – It is advisable to check updates on websites if rebates are current.
