Medicare Access

Hello,

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) yesterday highlighted that the new Access Card (the super card which, by 2010, will replace all government health and social services cards that already exist) will only be available to those over the age of 18. For those under the age of 18, they will be required to write to the Minister of Human Services or the Secretary of the Department to ask for an exemption under the Act. This will mean that those aged 16-18 will no longer be able to get a Medicare Card as a matter of course, adding another layer of red tape to young people who want to independently access health services.

We believe that this is a step backwards and ignores the importance of confidentiality and independence young people already have in accessing health care and is essentially taking away rights that young people have at the present. It also totally ignores that this makes it significantly more difficult for young people living away from home or in out of home care to access important health services and for all young people to have proof of identity as the Medicare Card was an important form of proof of identity for many young people.

I've attached the Youth Coalition's media release and our Op-Ed on this issue and the link for the AMA's original story is here ( http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21107930-421,00.html ).