The ACC Scheme - You Get What You Pay For

Dr Smith, ACC Minister, has revealed a shortfall in funding, signalled levy increases, cost cutting measures and looking at opening ACC up to competition.

“It is our view that ACC levy increases are long overdue and what has been announced may not be enough”, says David Wadsworth, Principal of Access Support Services. “You get what you pay for and the relatively cheap levies equates to reduced entitlements being provided to claimants.”

“The last thing claimants need is an ACC scheme with a culture of providing inadequate rehabilitation and then dumping them onto the welfare system, effectively shifting the liability and the social cost wholly onto the taxpayer,” says Mr Wadsworth. “It’s privatising profits and socialising liabilities. We saw this strategy from 1998 to 2003 and it looks set to happen again.”

Access Support Services’ position is that, whatever the Government’s plan is for the ACC scheme, safeguards need to be put in place to ensure disgruntled claimants can access effective representation when a dispute about their claim arises.

“Our experience is private insurers are reluctant to engage in modern dispute resolution practices, such as mediation, and many claimants simply do not know how to go about contesting a decision ACC or private insurers make about their claim” says Mr Wadsworth. “Unfortunately, levy payers only find out what their levies cover after they have a serious injury.”

ENDS

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