An extra $101 million will be spent over four years on elective health but a 60% prescription hike is needed to pay for other health services.
In the first of what is expected will be a series of pre-Budget health spending announcements this week Prime Minister John Key says the $101 million extra funding will be for elective operations, scans and improved cancer services.
Prescription charges will increase on January 1 from $3 to $5 an item, up to a maximum of 20 items a year.
The prescription increase is tipped to generate an extra $20 million savings to be reinvested in the first year and $40 million in subsequent years, according to health minister Tony Ryall.
Without giving detail of where specific funding sacrifices would be made, Mr Ryall says health will receive a big funding boost, which will come from savings within health and across the government’s accounts.
He says money from increased prescription charges “will be going into more front line services.”
He says the government wants shorter waits for important diagnostic tests, such as MRI scans, CT scans and colonoscopies.
IT services will receive $16 million to speed up access to the tests and $4 million for a national register of patients treated for heart conditions, in order to improve their care across hospitals.
An additional $33 million over the next four years will be spent on better and faster services for cancer patients.
NBR Staff
Mon, 14 May 2012
Mon, 14 May 2012
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$100m health boost comes at a price NBR Staff
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