This is a step-by-step post on how we got Medicare Entitlement Statement. This article is based on our own successful experiences and is in no way a legal advice. However, after you are have read it, you will see that the whole process is fairly simple. Getting Medicare Entitlement Statement to return monthly Medicare Levy payments is nothing but a must for people who had no rights to receive free medical services in Australia. The process accounts for one (previous) financial year (July-June) and repeats itself every year.
If you never had permanent residency (further – “PR”) or Australian citizenship then you are that kind of person. This means that each of your official salary was decreased by 2% medicare levy. You can and should return those deductions. And this article is on how to get Medicare Entitlement Statement on your own.
When we reviewed articles on this topic we noticed that most of them were commercial and offered paid help. We are grateful to their authors for the useful information but we don’t see any reason to pay for what you can do on your own! This is the reason of this post – to help you prepare all the necessary papers on your own, without spending a single cent!
Most efforts in returning medicare levy fall on receiving the confirmation of not being eligible for Medicare. We say “most efforts” because you may need to wait for up to 28 days to get it. But you can fill the application in minutes!
MES
The name of such confirmation is Medicare Entitlement Statement (further – “MES”). Earlier it was called Medicare Levy Exemption Certificate. The name has been changed so we will call it accordingly. Having MES you have the right to apply for the medicare levy return. We will tell you everything we know about this step. And later – about how to return your 2%.
So let’s first check if you have the right to get MES. Here are three categories of people who have the right to receive MES. If you didn’t have PR in the last financial year nor you were an Australian citizen (and all your dependents, if any, had the same status), then you are most likely to fall under the third category. And that means that you have the right to return 100% of your medicare levy charges.
How to Get Medicare Entitlement Statement
To receive your Medicare Entitlement Statement you will need to:
1Download the Application for a Medicare Entitlement Statement (MS015) from here. We advise to print a few copies and practice before getting the original ready. There are three pages in total – you will be better off printing in black and white colour.
2Fill in the application with a blue or a black pen, in BLOCK LETTERS and putting “v” or “x” in the boxes. we recommend to use “x” 🙂 This step is the most work you will have. 3Add a list of mandatory documents that are as important as the application itself. If you want to succeed from the first try – have all the necessary copies. Think of the rule: more is better than less. The required documents are:- certified copy of the first page of your foreign passport;
- certified copies of the passport’s pages with Australian arrival and departure stamps for the last financial year;
- confirmation of the eligible visa for the claimed period. If you had an electronic version of it, the copy doesn’t have to be certified;
- if you resided in the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Malta, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Belgium or Slovenia before coming to Australia – a certified copy of your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), National Health Service (NHS) or another medical card showing the expiry date.
Certifying Copies
You can certify copies with any pharmacy worker, “Justice of the Piece“, medical practitioner or even police officer! You may find a full list of people who have the right to certify documents here. After that – scan all the documents including the application.
4Send everything you’ve got to this email: MES@humanservices.gov.au. Or you can fax it to 1300 554 904, or mail it to the following address:Department of Human Resources
Medicare Entitlement Statement Unit
GPO Box 9822
Adelaide SA 5001
That’s it!
P.S. of How to Get Medicare Entitlement Statement
There is more information on how to get Medicare Entitlement Statement here but remember that you will have to repeat this procedure after each financial year. This relates to those years when you didn’t have the right for free medical services in Australian hospitals. But don’t worry, if you forget something – you can always come back. Just save this page in your browser’s bookmarks.
We hope that this post on how to get Medicare Entitlement Statement was helpful for you.
