name change and the pharmaceutical benefits scheme

[immortal gypsy]

Last month I reached the limit and now have a PBS safety net card for the rest of the year.  (Yay instead of having to pay $200 plus every few weeks its now only around $30, more money for shopping )

Now I will be changing my name will this effect me in any way  with medicare, or should I wait till January next year

[Cindy]

When I changed my name my medicare account was linked, very straight forward. You need a letter from your therapist saying you are female and proof of name change. Took 10 minutes and no problem at all. Nice considerate staff.

[GenTechJ]

I was actually wondering about all of this myself as I will be changing my name and wondered how it would effect any benefits I receive. Thank you for that info Cindy

[Cindy]

Same with driving licence everything, the therapists have a form letter and you just present it with name change proof. Passport is the same, it is very straightforward in Australia.

[GenTechJ]

Ahhh, hopefully the same is true here in the states. I have my name picked out and everything, my mom even smiled when I told her the name I picked because it was the name she picked had I been born female. Middle name too.

[immortal gypsy]

So just to make sure I understand
1)Proof of name change: birth certificate easily enough
2)Letter from therapist saying I am female: gender center or back to the psychiatrist?
3)Take everything to my local medicare and wait half the morning, (They are lovely but oh so busy and understaffed)
PBS remains unaffected

Also I would be able to use steps one and two to change the titles my bank records also, correct?

[Cindy]

So just to make sure I understand
1)Proof of name change: birth certificate easily enough

you need proof of name change. Changing your birth certificate is the hard one. Go to google and look for name in change in Australia, it varies from state to state.

2)Letter from therapist saying I am female: gender center or back to the psychiatrist?
3)Take everything to my local medicare and wait half the morning, (They are lovely but oh so busy and understaffed)
PBS remains unaffected

Also I would be able to use steps one and two to change the titles my bank records also, correct?

Yes