16 year olds now denied health care card

HOW CRAZY IS THIS???????

Card could deny teen girls pill
By Sue Dunlevy
January 24, 2007 12:00am
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TEENAGE girls seeking the birth control pill will have to get their parents' permission or apply to a senior bureaucrat for a Medicare card to avoid a $55 doctors fee under new rules.
The Howard Government's new access card, which will replace the Medicare smart card next year, will only be available to those over 18.
The current Medicare card is issued to those as young as 16.
The Australian Medical Association says this will hinder a teenager's ability to get a Medicare rebate. "It would restrict young people's privacy by making it harder for them to make life and health decisions free of interference," AMA president Mukesh Haikerwal said. "It goes to the whole issue of the autonomy of 16-year-olds - be it about contraceptive advice or advice about abuse or violence issues," he said.
Teens without their own access card will have to pay cash up front for a doctor visit because doctors will not be able to bulkbill them without a card, the AMA said. Many other teenagers under the age of 18 who live independently will be unable to claim welfare benefits and other government services if the age limit goes ahead. Until recently teenagers as young as 14 could get a Medicare card until the age limit was raised to 16, the age of consent.
Office of Access Card spokeswoman Marie Johnson said the access card legislation allowed people under the age of 18 to apply to the Secretary of the Department of Human Services for an exemption to the rule.
"This is not about denying anybody access to services," she said.
"If an individual under 18 needs and requires a card they can apply for it," she said.
But the AMA says this bureaucratic approval process is cumbersome and replaces a system where people aged 16 are automatically eligible for a card.
The age hitch is one of a number of serious privacy problems with the draft legislation identified by 120 groups and individuals.
The government-appointed watchdog overseeing consumer and privacy issues with the card said the legislation does not state clearly enough the Government's promise that the new card will not become a national identity card.
Former ACCC chief Alan Fels who heads the watchdog said too much personal information will be displayed on the card. "We haven't been able to see any rationale for place of birth," he said.
Civil Liberties Australia said the legislation does not require any tracking of who accesses data on the card. Nor does it require any check ups be made to ensure the data is correct.
And it says penalties for abusing the card system must be harsher.
Human Services Minister Joe Hockey released draft legislation for the card the week before Christmas and set a 15 January deadline for groups to raise any issues.