The problem is that Ted and Margaret are self-funded retirees. Throughout his 40 or so years as a fitter and turner in Newcastle industry and her decades raising a family Ted and Margaret saved for retirement, and when he stopped working 17 years ago they invested their savings in the stockmarket. They didn't splurge on travel or a sprawling mansion so they'd qualify for a part pension. No gleaming four-wheel-drive for them - they're still driving the car they bought 20 years before Ted retired.

The Rudd Government is about to include their small superannuation pension in the income test for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, which will push their income over the limit of $80,000 a year and disqualify them from holding a card. The new test will cost many retirees their health card, the primary purpose of which is to provide access to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme at a time when people need it most.

Adding insult to injury, Ted and Margaret are to miss out on the $900 bonanza - they're within the income limits but for reasons that don't appear to make sense they're disqualified because much of their income is paid as franked dividends.

Ted and Margaret are not crying poor. They are angry and bewildered that their efforts to provide their own income in retirement are dismissed so ungraciously and blindly by the Federal Government. Indeed, as Ted points out, if he or Margaret were in prison higher income limits would allow them to keep the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card.

Have Ted and Margaret gone wrong? Where?