A new digital version of the Medicare card scheduled for release today provides an option of adding the digital card to the wallet in your myGov app.
Bill Shorten, the federal minister for government services, is encouraging Australians to adopt the new technology, which comes with extra security features that will make impersonation and fraud extremely difficult.
A digital version of the Medicare card has been available for some time, accessible to those who use the Medicare Express Plus smartphone app. However, that version is nothing more than a screenshot of your physical card, making it possible to duplicate quite easily.
The new myGov app version of the card will sport additional security features, including:
- an animated hologram to show the card is not a screenshot
- a QR code that can be scanned to confirm the card is genuine and valid
- the date and time of when the card was last updated at the bottom of the screen.
Those wanting to access the new digital version of the card will need to do so through the myGov app, which was released last year by Services Australia.
However, the myGov app is used by only about one million Australians, a small fraction of the 19 million Medicare accounts linked to online myGov accounts.
Mr Shorten says that number is growing and is encouraging other Australians to get on board. “Many people use their Medicare card regularly, so adding it to their wallet in the myGov app is a safe and convenient way to keep their personal documents together in one place,” he said.
Mr Shorten stressed the strength of the security features of the app’s wallet. “As with all items in the myGov wallet, the Medicare card has protections against fraud and theft, including a hologram and QR code. The animated hologram shows that the card is not just a screenshot and the QR code can be scanned by health professionals to confirm the card is genuine and valid.”
While conceding that it may take medical service providers some time to adjust their systems to the new technology, Mr Shorten has called on them all to embrace the new digital card as soon as possible.
One of the advantages of the digital version is instantaneous updates when circumstances change. If a person is no longer eligible for Medicare, the card will be automatically removed from their myGov app. And when a person’s Medicare card expires, it will be replaced automatically in their myGov wallet if they are still eligible.
A statement released in December by Services Australia spruiked the myGov’s app as making it easy to access services such as Medicare, Centrelink and Child Support, and promised to “keep adding features and improving the app over time”.
One thing the statement does not clarify is what this means for other government apps such as Centrelink Express Plus and Medicare Express Plus. Are all the features of those two apps available through the myGov app?
That would certainly make sense, and would mean only requiring a single app on your phone, rather than three, to deal with the various agencies. But a quick online search does not appear to provide the answers to that question.
The digital Medicare card on the myGov app appears to be a step in the right direction, but clearer communication from the government about how best to use their apps would perhaps be an even bigger step.
Have you downloaded the myGov app? Are you likely to do so? Why not share your thoughts in the comments section below?
Also read: New myGov app a ‘quantum leap’ for government services
You know not everyone is computer literate and I count myself among these people. I would much rather talk face to face with a human being or receive news of an alteration to my pension via a letter. We don’t all have adult children who can assist us with these matters but we’re the forgotten few. Move with the times or else seems to be the mantra these days. 🦋
It won’ hurt to move with the times! It keeps one mind active and it makes it so easier to communicate with your children. Initially one had also to cope with using one’s microwave, smart tv, mobile phone, gps, modern vehicles. etc.
I have been trying to download my card but I can’t get into the Medicare app nor the MyGov app. They are not working.
Well I’ve been trying to input my licence details and even though they have been correctly input I continue to be told that the info on my licence doesn’t match the recorded info on file.
Also found it hopeless to get through to the phone number listed “as we are experiencing a high level of calls…. etc etc”
Looks like they have copied Centre Links model….
Will wait some time before trying again.
either add the 0 or take it away. Sometimes government apps use my middle initial and other times I have to use my full middle name. Grrr.
As far as I am concerned the more of our information that is digitalized the more chance there is of it being misused. Who knows exactly who can get access to our information and not only by being hacked so I do NOT intend to digitalize anything I am nor forced to.
I am another person who sees problems with the digitised world. In fact I received 2 scam emails and a scam text this morning. I was awake up to 2 of them but fell for the third which was about a refund from Medicare. As a consequence I have now spent an hour on the phone contacting the myGov help desk and my bank to arrange a new card. Many people may be embracing this world of technology but my preference is and always will be cash, and dealing with people either face to face or via the phone. Technology is not always what it is cracked up to be, be careful everyone!