Overview
New Zealand has a mixed public-private system for delivering health care. Public hospitals provide care for citizens or permanent residents free of charge but costly or difficult operations often require long waiting and delays unless the treatment is medically urgent. Because of this, a secondary market of health insurance schemes exist which fund operations and treatments for their members privately. Primary care (non-specialist doctors and family doctors) and medications on the list of the New Zealand government agency PHARMAC require co-payments, but are subsidised, especially for patients with community health services cards or high user health cards.
What happens if you need to see a doctor?
If you need to see your General Practitioner a payment is needed for the appointment and again at the pharmacy to collect the medication, usually at a cost of $5 per item. Everyone is entitled to two repeat prescriptions which are free of charge. Practices set their own fees. Generally if you are enrolled with your GP you will pay less, and of course, after hours care is more expensive. We also have a ‘pharmacy subsidy card’, which is valid for 1 year, so if you pay for 20 items, any following items will be free of charge.
Who decides what medicines a doctor can prescribe?
The Ministry of Health, Medical Council of New Zealand, District Health Boards decide on the national guidelines, appropriate conduct of our health professionals, entitlements, national performance measures and so forth. The Medical Council does maintain that doctors are allowed to prescribe unapproved medications but the care of the patient will be their responsibility as a GP. The decision to fund each medicine however, falls under a Pharmaceutical Management Agency called Pharmac. They assess the statistics and needs of our country and then determine individual medical subsidies.
Practically, what is it like to live with Type 1 in NZ?
In New Zealand, we have access to meters, strips, insulin and medication we require. There are no serious career, social, marital or educational stigmas which stem from a diagnosis. Like the majority of countries around the world we are always pushing for greater recognition of type 1.
Recently Pharmac streamlined our national medical device funding under a sole-supply initiative. We only have funding for one blood glucose meter. Previously it was largely unheard of and has presented a multitude of accuracy issues. The meter selected sometimes fails to function in our divided northern subtropical, and southern winter-snow climates. Other companies such as Roche and Abbott have been forced to withdraw most of their products from the country, and we therefore have no market competition and will struggle to be part of any global technological advances.
What if you need to be admitted to hospital?
Most people have hospitals close by, ambulances on standby and endocrinologists on hand. We also have rescue helicopters for more rural or hard to reach places. Some areas of the country do have an ambulance charge of $80 to be paid after your visit.
How does diabetes care vary throughout the country?
Access is mostly the same across the country. Only recently has New Zealand gained funding for pumps, which a person is only eligible for if they fit certain criteria. There is no CGM funding so barely anyone in the country has a CGM.
Thank you, Carrie Hetherington for sharing information about your country for this section.
Last updated 2016