Media Release

3rd March 2010

Government “robbing Peter to pay Paul”

The Ministry of Health is “robbing Peter to pay Paul” with the new hearing aid funding regime that comes into force today, the National Foundation for the Deaf says.

NFD General Manager Louise Carroll said today that while the ministry was to be applauded for changes that will see previously-disenfranchised people get full hearing aid funding for the first time, it is doing this at the expense of working people who will now lose access to fully funded aids.

“The ministry says 2700 working people will lose their full funding for hearing aids, and receive, once every six years, a subsidy of $500 per aid instead.

“We are very concerned at the impact of this on middle New Zealand, who are ineligible for the Community Services Card, do not earn in the same bracket as judges or doctors and simply cannot afford to pay for hearing aids,” Ms Carroll said today.

“These are generally average Kiwis, across all age groups, and it leaves them having to find, potentially, several thousand dollars for aids that are often vital to keeping them in their jobs.

“The irony of this is that if they lose their jobs because of their hearing difficulties and get a Community Services Card, they are then eligible for fully funded aids. This is nonsensical.”

The funding changes come while more than 2300 people have been waiting for 14 months or more for hearing aid funding.

The Health and Disability Commissioner has received over 60 calls from people on the waiting list and 38 of the 60 callers have lodged formal complaints. The Commissioner has taken the matter to the Ministry of Health.

In announcing the new funding scheme yesterday, the ministry said that despite more funds being pumped into disability services as a whole, people on the waiting lists faced continuing delays.

In response, Ms Carroll is calling for a system whereby people who needed hearing aids to function properly at work could reclaim the cost against their tax.

“A self-employed person can claim the cost of their tools, computers, and office equipment against their tax, often over a number of years, so why shouldn’t people who need hearing aids – or other disability devices – to keep their jobs be able to reclaim the cost?” she said.

Ms Carroll said it was also time for medical insurance companies to include the cost of hearing aids and similar devices in their policies. This would help people with medical insurance put money aside on an affordable basis.

“Hearing and other disabilities are not going to just go away because the government changes the criteria,” Ms Carroll said.

“Helping one group of people at the expense of another group is just robbing Peter to pay Paul. This government needs to create innovative solutions to address this most concerning problem and we are happy to assist”.

ENDS

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