Australians have been urged to check their banking details listed on the government’s MyGov portal as Medicare has some $241 million in benefits waiting to be claimed.
The government on Thursday advised more than 930,000 Australians who have not updated their banking details that they can claim the benefits and revealed the easy way they can get the money.
National Disability Insurance Scheme and Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said Australians would only be able to get their cash back through unpaid Medicare benefits once they had updated their details.
“We know that a little extra money is always welcome before the holidays, so there is no better time than now to check if your banking details with Medicare are up to date and if you have any benefits outstanding,” Mr Shorten said .
The average Australian who is owed unpaid Medicare benefits is owed around $260, but there are also 200 people who are owed more than $10,000.
Young adult Australians are owed the most money, with more than 224,000 people aged 18 to 24 owed more than $52 million, up from $49.2 million last year.
There are also hundreds and thousands of eligible beneficiaries between the ages of 25 and 55 who are owed an average of about $30 million in each ten-year age group.
New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria have the largest number of eligible beneficiaries, although there are still tens of millions in the other states and territories who have not yet claimed their benefits.
The Australian Government has urged Australians to check their Medicare banking details on the MyGov website.
Shorten said it took the average person with a myGov account already linked to Medicare less than a minute to check and update their banking details using the myGov app.
“There are some quick and easy ways to check and update your Medicare details, including through your linked Medicare service on the myGov app or your online Medicare account,” Mr Shorten said.
“Once you update your details, Services Australia will pay any unpaid benefits within 3 days.”
The unclaimed benefits pale in comparison to the $30 billion in Medicare benefits paid by Services Australia in the last financial year.
Young Australians are the group with the most money to claim in benefits, with around $52 million for those aged between 18 and 24.
Shorten said more than 500,000 Australians had already been reunited with $117 million in unclaimed benefits since last December.
Services Australia will send more than half a million notifications to Australians through the myGov app in a bid to pay out the funds.