Hon Jim Anderton
Progressive Leader
Member of Parliament for Wigram
12 May 2006 Media Statement
When is an insurance scheme not an insurance scheme
Progressive Party leader Jim Anderton supports the pensioners who spoke out against the Southern Cross Healthcare hikes
in its premium for the elderly in what Southern Cross Healthcare has called a 'rebalancing of costs'.
"Southern Cross Healthcare has lost sight of the insurance principle, which is paying when you are young and able so
that as your income falls and health deteriorates, people get the services they expect and need – and have paid for
during their 'healthiest years', Jim Anderton said today.
"Southern Cross Healthcare has reversed this long-term insurance principle into a policy which charges you more and more
the older and more likely to get sick you are, with no account made for the early, healthy years when premiums were paid
and no claims were made.
"New Zealanders need to feel secure about getting the healthcare they need when they need it, instead of being tied into
a 'user pays' medical subscription scheme. The fact that the proportion of New Zealanders with health insurance has
dropped from 50 per cent to 33 per cent since the early nineties reflects premium rises but also a confidence shift by
New Zealanders in recognition that our public health services are being rebuilt and private health insurance is not to
be trusted.
"The best role for the Labour-Progressive Government is to increase the capacity and efficiency of our public health
system, making the most of our skilled medical practitioners, our excellent medical facilities and New Zealand tax
revenue to guarantee a publicly funded first-world health service for all New Zealanders," Jim Anderton said.
ENDS