I don’t know much about the ins and outs of private health insurance v. public health in NZ, but I wonder if many people are now taking out health insurance because the public health system is becoming less than effective partly due to a chronic lack of doctors and medical staff, which is causing major hold ups in things like surgery.
As they say, it’s a ‘peace of mind’ thing where you would hope to be seen and dealt with pretty quickly instead of joining a waiting list or, as has been happening on some operating lists recently, being bumped off altogether because the system just can’t cope.
When considering health insurance you would need to scrutinize carefully what’s on offer with each company as it can vary greatly. Someone who visits the doctor frequently and has health issues would probably need to consider insurance more than someone who rarely visits…..but then you never know when something is going to come out of the blue.
To keep costs down, many people seem to be opting for major incident policies where only more serious illnesses/operations are covered as these are the ones that would cost thousands of dollars to put right. With this you’d need the insurance to cover 100% of the cost (or as much as possible) whereas some companies only cover a portion of it and even 20% of several thousand NZ$ is still a lot of money to find. However, if your public health doctor refers you to a hospital then that should be free. If you have an accident, you are covered by
ACC .
Obviously, the more things included in the cover you sign up for, the more the policy will cost. Cover for doctor’s visits and prescription charges are offered by some policies, if you just need ‘lightweight’ peace of mind when you’re a frequent visitor to the surgery. Again you’d have to check what percentage they’re prepared to pay out. Some lucky folks get health insurance as part of their salary package in work so it’s worth asking about when being offered jobs.
As an example of health insurance companies, here’s a few sites of the bigger companies to browse through.
Uni-care
Southern Cross .
Medical and Health .
Sovereign .
Tower .
The NZIS site that explains (very briefly) how the
public health system works.
Another site about the
health system and what you’re likely to pay for.
If more informed information or recommendation is needed to make a decision about insurance, this guy is reputed to be very helpful
tim@inform.co.nz. He’s a financial advisor and I believe his services are free.
So, it’s not compulsory to take on private health insurance, it’s entirely up to you and what measure of security you’re looking for. There are some blanks in my minute amount of knowledge, so it would be good if those ‘on the ground’ who’ve had experience of public v. private health care could post a few words or comments.
Bet you wish you hadn't asked now.
