26 September
What National forgot to tell you
The National Party’s health discussion document fails to details their plans to end low cost universal primary health
care, Health Minister Pete Hodgson said.
“It’s not so much a case of the devil being in the detail, because the real detail has been left out of the document,”
Pete Hodgson said.
“Only after prodding from media did National’s leader John Key and Health Spokesperson Tony Ryall reveal the real intent
of the policy, which was mysteriously absent from the written material they distributed.”
“National has admitted that it wants to remove the cap which limits the size annual increases in doctors’ fees. This
revelation exposes the discussion document as a hollow policy from the hollow men,” Pete Hodgson said.
“The document is dishonest. It fails to reveal that doctor’s fees would rocket if National were ever elected to
Government. Patients would end up paying far more to visit a GP if GPs were to charge whatever they like on top of the
government funding they receive.” Pete Hodgson said.
Under the Labour-led Government’s primary health policies, the average cost of visiting a doctor has fallen to around
$25 and prescription charges are down from $15 to $3.
ENDS