An interesting thing happened to a family member recently. They went to use their Medicare card but was told it had expired. The card hadn't expired according to the expiry date on the card so it didn't make sense. Luckily the service provider worked out the last digit only needed to be changed. The same thing happened at a second health service provider and again a change of the last digit worked.
It turns out that Medicare issues new cards and then sends them out which can take a couple of weeks before you receive the card. Since there can't be two valid cards in existence at the same time, the existing card is set to be expired leaving the user unaware they're walking around with an expired card even though the expiry date is some time in the future. Banks use a different approach which is to send out a card which you then activate when received. Once activated you can then destroy the old card.
I thought I'd let others know about this situation as it does cause a bit of angst when dealing with health service providers. Just keep in mind if your Medicare card is due in the next month or two, it may become expired without having reached the expiry date. The new card will arrive within a few weeks, but until then you may get some grief with health service providers.
Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer support.
Servicing Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham and the surrounding area.
It turns out that Medicare issues new cards and then sends them out which can take a couple of weeks before you receive the card. Since there can't be two valid cards in existence at the same time, the existing card is set to be expired leaving the user unaware they're walking around with an expired card even though the expiry date is some time in the future. Banks use a different approach which is to send out a card which you then activate when received. Once activated you can then destroy the old card.
I thought I'd let others know about this situation as it does cause a bit of angst when dealing with health service providers. Just keep in mind if your Medicare card is due in the next month or two, it may become expired without having reached the expiry date. The new card will arrive within a few weeks, but until then you may get some grief with health service providers.
Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer support.
Servicing Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham and the surrounding area.
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