Stephen Jones

is the gist of this story true? (see below) Are medical costs horrendous in New Zealand?

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10841992

MrsFychan

our GP charges $46 per consult, funded and $80+ non funded. When we had to go to Accident and Medical one night for the daughter it again was $46.
Prescriptions are not set price as far as I can see but they are a lot cheaper than the UK but of course to get the prescription you have to have the consult so all in all it is much more expensive here.

sparkie down under

er, not so Mrs Fychan - from memory () prescriptions were free, (in Wales).

Incidentally, I believe that article to be quite true. I last year had to have some on going treatment - however when my money ran out no-one bothered to ring me to see why I stopped coming - no-one gave a fig.......NZ is a "can't pay-go die" medical system.

MrsFychan

Prescriptions are £7.65 in England, gone are the days when it was cost per script as they cottoned onto to that money saving aspect and charge for individual items now. so if you have 3 items it costs £22.95

but I do see that Wales do not pay

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-19421729

Robbie2010

Yes, you have to pay to see the Doc ... but when I need to see him I can get an appointment the same day.

In England I had to wait up to a week to get an appointment.

lardyl

For elective surgery without medical insurance then costs can be prohibitive, there was a clinic/hospital in Chch (as I recall) that opened a few years ago, the first in NZ, where treatment was free and the medics gave their time pro bono, which shows than NZ is different to the NHS.
However, GPs seem to have more time and be more approachable than in UK.
One problem is that the emergency departments (real ones) are spread out compared in UK so getting treatment for real emergencies can take more time. Hence we have plenty of air ambulances.

Stephen Jones

It is true. Prescriptions in Wales are free, but that is because we spend our money more wisely.

Stephen Jones

This doesn't seem good.

simonsi

That comes from the lower population density, Air Ambulances should mitigate the distances though.

wendy_woo

I did a lot of research on this, my understanding is that if you are a Resident and you register with a GP that belongs to a District Health Board and PHO (Primary Healthcare) see http://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/primary-health-care you will then benefit from Publically subsidised health care, for Auckland depending on the GP practice you can pay as little as $17 a visit, recommend you read the info on the websites and you will see it's not so bad!!

waikatoguy

I guess it should be pointed out that if you have a condition that requires urgent specialist care, then there is no charge.

If you fall out of a tree and break a leg, for example, you can have surgery for it straight away without paying a dime. Same as for life threatening conditions etc.

The main problem comes if you need to see a specialist because you are simply feeling unwell or for things that your GP thinks is not urgent. If you want to take the free avenue, you go on a public waiting list and you could be waiting a very long time. If you are prepared to pay (or have insurance), you can go private and get in straight away (or much sooner). The same thing applies if you need (or want) elective surgery (eg hip replacement, varicose veins).

For regular GP appointments, I personally pay $17 for a 15 minute appointment, although I think that is unusually low.

BEVS

GP visit is $37 for 15 minutes.


The practice is part of the PHO that WendyWoo mentions.

Caz8NZ

Exactly. Basically - very similar to the UK. The main difference is paying to see your local GP as the whole healthcare system is set up differently so your local GP practice operates as a business.



Yup - you don't need lots of A&E's in the more rural areas basically. There are smaller A&E type places in localities that aren't connected to hospitals though.

GP fees can vary - average you should expect as an enrolled patient is about $35-45 a go.


I had my first trip to the GP the other week and I have to say - it was a very different experience to the UK. Very very nice Dr - seemed to have more time for me, seemed very based on the old fashioned "family doctor" approach. My old practice in the UK was large and although you would be registered under one particular doctor - you would just be booked in to see whoever was available - unless you booked way in advance. Here - its very much - you have your local GP and that's who you would see.

Caz8NZ

I forgot that I wanted to add to this - this sort of thing is all related to ACC and it covers the widest range of things you could imagine.

ACC is the Accident Compensation Corporation. It works like this - if you suffer an injury caused by something that isn't illness or due to aging but caused by some outside force for example, you will be covered under the ACC scheme. A doctor completes a form called an ACC45 which states what your injury is, when it was caused and how it was caused.

Its a bit like an insurance claim - so you need to make sure that all your injuries are stated on there otherwise ACC can sometimes turn round and go - oh that bit of your injury isn't covered under the claim you made (like if you fractured your wrist at the same time as breaking your leg falling out the tree but the Dr only specified the leg injury). You'd still get your free emergency care - but if you needed additional things you may not get it. Such as - ACC will fund home supports if you are unable to do things due to your injury, meals on wheels if you are unable to cook due to your injury etc etc.

My mate hurt her neck the other week - she's not sure how. she was in a car accident a couple of weeks before. but more recently she went to the gym for a massive workout after no doing any exercise for a long time. She went to the Doc and he decided to put in a claim saying it was related to the car accident - meant she got very subsidised physiotherapy

sparkie down under

it ain't

I know that back 'ome in Wales we had a dam good local doctors. I always had an appointment the same day, even if sometimes that was after 5.30, and I know that they were more caring.

For example I had a 'thing' on my finger. Nothing major and it took me ages to get it looked at (well I am a bloke after all). When I did the doctor wasn't sure what it was so he got in three others to have a butchers and then hey decided to freeze it off.

It worked fine and being a bloke I didn't see the need to go back for the check up. They actually rang me up and asked where I was. When I told them that everything was fine the doctor said to me he'd not wire houses if I didn't do my own doctoring!

Here the minute you stop paying is the minute they stop being interested in you. IMO