ࡱ> )+*`  bjbjss .$d      4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 $h*V 4 4 4 4 4 V 4 4 k  4 4 4 0 4 0  4 ( %g > " 0 0 /` / r/ 84 4 4 4 4 4 4 V V | 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 LL Dear Sir/Madam Medicare operates a scheme called the "Family Safety Net". Under this scheme, the out of pocket medical expenses of a family (as defined by the Government) are added together towards a threshold amount. Once this threshold is reached, the rate of Medicare rebate increases for the remainder of the calendar year. Under this scheme a teenage couple who have begun cohabiting that morning can walk into a Medicare office and be registered as a family. Medicare officers will not ask any questions or challenge the legitimacy of their claim to be a family. Once the combined out-of-pocket expenses for this couple exceeds the threshold, they will automatically be rebated at the higher rate. By way of contrast, a same sex couple who have lived together for many years cannot be recognised as a family by Medicare because of theGovernment's discriminatory policy. A same sex couple, in a long term relationship and who are raising children are not considered to be a family for Medicare purposes, whereas a pair of temporarily shacked up teenagers are. Because of thispolicy, many families are being forced to forego benefits they would otherwise have been entitled to. Law abiding taxpayers are treated as second class citizens because the Government choosesactively to enforcea policy of discrimination. I offer this as a particular clear case of discrimination, as well as an example of the absurdityof the way Medicare defines a family. Yours faithfully Stuart Buss [Details removed] KNK N v y 5 8 7 : h}hUgCJOJQJ^JaJh>h>CJOJQJ^JaJLNL N w y 6 8 8 : gd> ,1h. A!"#$% @@@ NormalCJ_HaJmH sH tH DAD Default Paragraph FontRiR  Table Normal4 l4a (k(No ListH@H Ug Balloon TextCJOJQJ^JaJ "&LNLNwy688:r v:r r v:r r v:r r v:r r v:r r v:r r v:r r v:r r v:r r v:r r v:r LNLNwy688:0000000000000000000000LNLNwy688:h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0   K_::7W03 W0%?W0QONW0GW0 !W0I!%)W0>i-W0D0W0W0Zyy6W0P:W0J?W0&r@W0ABW0tFCW0KXEW0FW0?gNW0'PYW0=\W0nz]W0TkW0WTrW0q}W0nC~W0U-UgCnv}O>>@Qp@UnknownGz Times New Roman5Symbol3& z Arial5& zaTahoma"hDFDF ! !$24d2X)?>2Oh+'0d   , 8DLT\ Normal.dot4Microsoft Office Word@@DM@DM՜.+,0 px  !   Title  !"#&Root Entry F(g(1Table /WordDocument.SummaryInformation(DocumentSummaryInformation8CompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89qRoot Entry FP E-1Table /WordDocument.SummaryInformation( ,DocumentSummaryInformation8pCompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q՜.+,D՜.+,< px  !   Title4 $,