May 15, 2014

Budget misses ‘big picture’ on health - HFANZ

Today’s Budget is just “tinkering” with health and does nothing to resolve the unsustainability in the present funding model, the Health Funds Association (HFANZ) says.

HFANZ chief executive Roger Styles said big changes were happening around the world to get public healthcare spending onto a more sustainable long-term track, and he warned that New Zealand could not afford to dither too much longer.

“Most countries now acknowledge the funding model of the last 20 years will not work for the next 20 years and are taking urgent action. Here we continue with a ‘business-as-usual’ effort to portray the present system as sustainable, when it is anything but,” he said.

ENDS

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