tmmonline.nz  |   landlords.co.nz        About Good Returns  |  Advertise  |  Contact Us  |  Terms & Conditions  |  RSS Feeds

NZ's Financial Adviser News Centre

GR Logo
Last Article Uploaded: Thursday, September 19th, 6:46PM

Insurance

rss
Latest Headlines

Fears extra Budget money will steer people away from health insurance

The Health Funds Association is worried that the Government’s much-publicised additional funding for hip and knee operations will steer people away from buying health insurance.

Thursday, June 3rd 2004, 7:35AM
As part of last week’s Budget the government said it will spend an extra $70 million over four years to fund orthopaedic surgery in public hospitals.

This funding will “double the number of major hip and knee replacement operations performed in public hospitals,” Prime Minister Helen Clark said.

The HFA, while welcoming the move, says people shouldn’t think the extra funding will give them immediate and better access to surgery.

“While $70 million in four years seems like a lot of money…anyone who thinks that it will provide more than a temporary respite to the fundamental and underlying problems faced by the public health system, will surely be disappointed,” HFA executive director Andrea Pettett says.

She says the public hospitals should be used for providing 24-hour, high-level emergency services and that elective surgery should be contracted out to well-equipped private hospital “More cash injections may keep the public hospitals on life support but the sooner the underlying problems are acknowledged the better. Denying the obvious does New Zealanders a disservice; their misplaced confidence in the public hospital system means they fail to arrange health insurance cover that could secure their healthcare needs,” Pettett says.

She says the government should be promoting the need for people to take out health insurance as well as saving for their retirement. “While the government has not been backward in encouraging people to start saving for their retirement; successive governments have not faced up to telling New Zealanders that they will also have to take greater responsibility for funding their own healthcare needs,” she says.

« AXA completes partial shift to IndiaING doing due diligence in National Bank Life »

Special Offers

Commenting is closed

 

print

Printable version  

print

Email to a friend
Insurance Briefs

Resolution Life gets new president
Global life insurance group Resolution Life has appointed Moses Ojeisekhoba as its new President.

Today is Mindfulness Day - here's a new tool
Former Director-General of Health Sir Ashley Bloomfield gets involved with a new online mindfulness practice.

AIA gets new CTO
AIA New Zealand appoints new chief technology officer.

Free accidental death cover boosted
Booster KiwiSaver members have had their free accidental death insurance doubled to the maximum it pays.

News Bites
Latest Comments
Subscribe Now

Cover Notes - Specific news aimed at risk advisers

Previous News

MORE NEWS»

Most Commented On
About Us  |  Advertise  |  Contact Us  |  Terms & Conditions  |  Privacy Policy  |  RSS Feeds  |  Letters  |  Archive  |  Toolbox  |  Disclaimer
 
Site by Web Developer and eyelovedesign.com
x