Aussies can claim shares of $200 million unpaid Medicare or myGov benefits—are you eligible?
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We're often reminded of the importance of keeping our personal details updated with various government services.
But did you know that a little bit of 'life administration' could potentially put a share of $200 million back into your pocket?
That's right, Services Australia has announced that there's a substantial sum of unclaimed money just waiting to be collected by its rightful owners.
This unclaimed treasure trove comes from unpaid benefits accumulated due to out-of-date account details on Medicare or myGov accounts.
Financial expert Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon shared how a simple online process could help you recover money that's rightfully yours.
‘Just half an hour of kind of life administration is probably going to earn us more potentially than days of actual work at the moment,’ she said.
‘Viewers can claim a slice with just a couple of quick searches.’
‘What you do here is go to myGov and connect your Medicare—once you have got that done, the actual step to get it is putting in your bank account details.’
‘Make sure they are accurate, and they are going to automatically rebate that money—100,000 people this year have already had money land in their bank accounts.’
‘They maybe went to the doctor and didn’t have their Medicare card, maybe they couldn’t electronically rebate (at the surgery), and now it’s found its way back to them.’
But it's not just Medicare rebates that are going unclaimed.
Pedersen-McKinnon highlighted that there's an even larger sum of $1.5 billion in 'lost money' from inactive bank accounts.
‘People don’t know that bank accounts become kind of lost if you haven’t nudged them for seven years,’ she said.
‘Maybe it is dwindled away—you have forgotten about it, then it gets swept into government coffers. You can get it back.’
Services Australia General Manager Hank Jongen said a relative had received $600 after updating their details.
‘One of my key pieces of advice is to make sure your bank details with Medicare are up to date,’ Jongen said.
‘Right now, there’s $200 million of outstanding Medicare rebates owing to people that we simply can’t pay because we don’t have their bank account details.’
He added that you can easily check if your bank account details are correct through the myGov website or Medicare app.
‘I promise it will only take a few minutes,’ he said.
‘If you’re owed money, we will automatically identify that and generally we pay within three days.’
Have you checked if you’re eligible for the rebate, members? Let us know in the comments below!
But did you know that a little bit of 'life administration' could potentially put a share of $200 million back into your pocket?
That's right, Services Australia has announced that there's a substantial sum of unclaimed money just waiting to be collected by its rightful owners.
This unclaimed treasure trove comes from unpaid benefits accumulated due to out-of-date account details on Medicare or myGov accounts.
Financial expert Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon shared how a simple online process could help you recover money that's rightfully yours.
Are you eligible for the $200 million claim? Credit: Shutterstock
‘Just half an hour of kind of life administration is probably going to earn us more potentially than days of actual work at the moment,’ she said.
‘Viewers can claim a slice with just a couple of quick searches.’
‘What you do here is go to myGov and connect your Medicare—once you have got that done, the actual step to get it is putting in your bank account details.’
‘Make sure they are accurate, and they are going to automatically rebate that money—100,000 people this year have already had money land in their bank accounts.’
‘They maybe went to the doctor and didn’t have their Medicare card, maybe they couldn’t electronically rebate (at the surgery), and now it’s found its way back to them.’
But it's not just Medicare rebates that are going unclaimed.
Pedersen-McKinnon highlighted that there's an even larger sum of $1.5 billion in 'lost money' from inactive bank accounts.
‘People don’t know that bank accounts become kind of lost if you haven’t nudged them for seven years,’ she said.
‘Maybe it is dwindled away—you have forgotten about it, then it gets swept into government coffers. You can get it back.’
Services Australia General Manager Hank Jongen said a relative had received $600 after updating their details.
‘One of my key pieces of advice is to make sure your bank details with Medicare are up to date,’ Jongen said.
‘Right now, there’s $200 million of outstanding Medicare rebates owing to people that we simply can’t pay because we don’t have their bank account details.’
He added that you can easily check if your bank account details are correct through the myGov website or Medicare app.
‘I promise it will only take a few minutes,’ he said.
‘If you’re owed money, we will automatically identify that and generally we pay within three days.’
