$271 million in unpaid Medicare benefits—are you owed a share?

Hello everyone,

More than 980,000 Aussies are being urged to collect their share of over $271 million in unpaid Medicare benefits by simply updating their bank account details with Medicare.

The benefits are owed to people who don’t have current bank details registered with Medicare and can’t be paid.

There are people in every state and territory and every age group who are owed money.

Young people are owed the most, with more than $62 million owed to 250,000 people aged between 18-24.

The benefit amounts vary, but the average amount owed is around $275.

So, how does it happen?

Updating your personal details with Medicare isn’t always top of mind when you change banks, or change address.

Keeping your details up to date helps make sure your Medicare payments don’t get stuck. Image Source: X (Twitter)

The reality is we can’t pay this money unless we know for sure where it’s going.

Services Australia is directly contacting 450,000 customers with unpaid Medicare benefits, who have Medicare linked to myGov, to help them register their bank details.

Sometimes, it’s hard for us to get in touch if we don’t have your current phone number or address.

What do you need to do?

It’s a simple process that only takes a couple of minutes.

You just need to make sure your bank details are registered with Medicare.

I also encourage you to have a chat with your family members to make sure their details are registered too.

Most people already have a Medicare online account – you probably created one during the pandemic to access your proof of vaccination.

Go to myGov and select Medicare or use the official myGov app.

That’s all you need to do.

Once you’ve given us the information we need, unpaid Medicare benefits are usually paid within 3 days.

I always encourage people to give the online options a go, but, of course if you’re not comfortable going online, you can ring the Medicare number on 13 20 11.

For more information, go to servicesaustralia.gov.au/getmedicarebenefits

Access Medicare through myGov

We've also made it easier for you to access Medicare services in the myGov app—in fact it is now the only app you need for your Medicare online services.

Using the myGov app you can do everything that you’ve previously done in the Express Plus Medicare mobile app, with the added benefit of more secure sign in options like passkeys or Digital ID.

With the recent improvements to Medicare services in the myGov app, we’ve retired the Express Plus Medicare mobile app.

If you’ve previously used the Express Plus Medicare mobile app you’ll need to switch to the myGov app.

For more information on setting up the myGov app, visit my.gov.au/app

Until next time.

Hank Jongen

General Manager

Services Australia