Carer's allowance

[Jewel]

Hi

I receive Carer's Allowance for my 27 yo son. Just me and him at home. Until now have also had a health care card but after visiting the chemist today seems like I am no longer entitled. Check Centrelink's website and it seems I can only get a Health Care Card for him. He already has a pension card. So I am a little disappointed. 

Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful that we have our wonderful welfare system but I feel at times that the system has no real idea how extremely stressful caring for a person with a mental health illness can be. How it can impact a carer's health, I see a psychologist regularly to help cope therefore the loss of a health care card means adding financial stress to an already very stressful situation.

[Former-Member]

Hi Jewel, a warm weekend welcome to the forum

Thanks for posting and connecting here. I'm sure you'll find the community here a supportive and friendly bunch. There's been quite a few posts from people as carers, talking about the challenges including the unexpected ones like what happened to you yesterday as well as ways of coping with stress and enjoying the well times. I'd encourage you to have a look around - am finding my feet too so will pop up some threads I think might be of interest.I was also wondering if other people, who have been on here for a while might be able to point us both in the right direction...

[NikNik]

Hi @Jewel

I'm so sorry to hear about the situation you're in. Time and time again we talk about how important it is for carers to look after themselves and it sounds like you were doing such a great job at doing that by visiting the psychologist.

Is it possible to have your GP refer you for the annual 10 free appointments allocated under medicare? From what I understand (I'm not 100% sure) as long as you have a medicare card you're eligible for them.

I have also seen that Carers Australia offer free counselling sessions for carers. Find out more info here

If you're not already, it's worth connecting in with your state based Carer Australia org, ARAFMI , Tandem (Vic) and Mind . They all have helplines and are really great to speak with to get a full understanding of what is available to you.

While it may not be money, they may know about different services that could be free or reduced rate.

There is another discussion here started by @Used2Be about the financial impact of having people in the family with mental health difficulties - so you're definitely not alone in your experience.

Finally, I hope you continue use this community as a bit of a 'support group' to assist. We are open to all types of discussions about you and the person you care for.Nik