Media Statement For Immediate Release,
Monday 7 august 2006
“Health Insurance Increase Sign of Government Failure Over Public Hospitals”
“The increase in health insurance reported by New Zealand’s largest insurer Southern Cross is a sign of government
failure over public hospitals,”said Mr Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical
Specialists, today.
“This increase appears to be directly linked to district health boards increasingly denying patients access to first
specialist assessments and to dumping patients off waiting lists without any coherent strategy to address their clinical
needs.”
“We are not criticising private health insurance. New Zealanders should always consider the option of insurance. But it
is an indictment of government policy when this is driven by difficulties in access to public hospital services.”
“The government has unwisely taken its eye off the importance of public hospitals for some years now and it is time that
it refocused.”
“We need a coherent and effective strategy over access to public hospital services that is more than treating general
practitioners as a dumping ground,” concluded Mr Powell.
Ian Powell
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ENDS