Nib Celebrates 10 Years In Aotearoa By Gifting $30,000 To Kiwi Charities

Public vote sees nib donate $15,000 to Ronald McDonald House Charities NZ, $10,000 to KiwiHarvest and $5,000 to Clearhead

Three Kiwi charities will receive a slice of $30,000 in funding from nib foundation as part of nib New Zealand’s 10th anniversary celebrations.

nib Chief Executive Officer, Rob Hennin, said he is proud to partner with Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) New Zealand, KiwiHarvest and Clearhead to support the better health and wellbeing of New Zealanders, and mark nib’s 10th birthday in NZ.

“We want to celebrate a decade in Aotearoa with our employees, our members, and the community,” Mr Hennin said. “To do that, we asked Kiwis to vote for one of three charities nib foundation supports.

“We’re proud to announce $15,000 will go to Ronald McDonald House Charities, $10,000 will go to KiwiHarvest and $5,000 will go to Clearhead.”

Wayne Howett, CEO of RMHC New Zealand, said he is grateful for the support and the funding will make a real difference to Kiwi families, when they need it most.

“Thanks to nib and the public who voted for Ronald McDonald House we’ll be able to provide an additional 90 nights’ accommodation for families, ensuring they can stay together when their child is in hospital,” Mr Howett said.

During the last 10 years, nib has supported the better health and wellbeing of over 233,000 members in New Zealand with health insurance, travel insurance, and more recently, life and living benefits cover.

Mr Hennin said while nib has been proud to support members’ health needs largely through the provision of financial protection, nib is evolving its member proposition to support more Kiwis to take proactive care of their health and wellbeing.

“We see a real opportunity to demonstrate the role and value of private health insurance in helping improve health outcomes and mitigate potentially avoidable or unwarranted healthcare treatment,” he said.

“We’ve paid out more than $1.4 million in health and travel claims over the last decade, and we’re also proud to have supported over 11,000 Kiwi members through our targeted health management initiatives. We are especially proud of the work we do in our Māori programmes.”

nib’s health management programmes range from supporting weight management for healthier joints, to cancer care, and cardiac support, such as nib’s partnership with HealthScreening NZ designed to identify early signs of heart disease for iwi members.

“So far, our partnership with Māori rōpū and HealthScreening NZ has helped over 64 members to identify risks of heart disease and offer personalised health advice to prevent more serious health troubles later in life,” Mr Hennin said.

“Our Back Care programme is another great example of where we are investing in our members’ better health and wellbeing. We’ve seen a clinically significant 37% reduction on average in the Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability score for members who have participated in our program since February 2020.

“This is a significant clinical improvement. It means members are likely to be able to manage this pain conservatively, on their own, without intervention which is a great outcome for members,” Mr Hennin said.

Mr Hennin said nib’s success over the past decade and its vision for the future health of Kiwis can be largely attributed to the dedication and innovation of its more than 200 employees who make up nib, as well as its business and community partners.

“Staying true to our purpose of delivering affordable, simple health and wellbeing solutions will always be our priority and our employees and partners have and will continue to play a big part in helping us to get there,” he said.

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