Pressure grows on doctor fees
Labour has announced a plan to slash GPs’ fees to target the 500,000 Kiwis who could not afford to see a doctor in the past year.
Under the policy, New Zealanders with a community services card would be charged $8 to see the doctor - $10 cheaper than National’s proposed $18 fee.
Charges for teens would reduce from $12 to $2, and under-13s would still see the doctor for free.
The GP fee for an average adult would go from $42 to $32.
‘‘Our families’ health is our greatest treasure but it’s becoming more difficult for many people to afford to see the doctor,’’ Labour leader Jacinda Ardern said.
‘‘We’ve been working on this for some time. When we saw the results of the health survey that half a million New Zealanders weren’t going to the GP because of the cost, we knew we needed to do something about that,’’ she said.
‘‘Chronic underfunding has seen fees rise rapidly. Half a million New Zealanders did not visit the doctor last year when they were sick due to cost. That’s not acceptable in New Zealand.
‘‘Investing in primary care helps to avoid health problems worsening to the point where they need expensive hospital treatment.’’ Last week National pledged $18 GP visits for 600,000 lowincome New Zealanders and expanding the community services card to an additional 350,000 people.
To reduce doctors’ fees and allow for growing demand, Labour has also pledged to increase funding to GP practices by $46 million - a 5 per cent increase on current levels.
It also plans to spend $30m over three years to increase the number of GP training places to 300 a year.
‘‘This initiative will cut fees for New Zealanders while we undertake a full review of the primary care system aimed at better targeting subsidies, ensuring practices’ financial sustainability, and reducing other barriers to access,’’ Ardern said. When Labour announced it would not support the Government’s Budget policy of tax cuts, Ardern said, ‘‘that’s what allowed us to put extra money aside for health’’.
NATIONAL LAUNCH
National officially opened its elec- tion campaign yesterday to thousands of supporters crammed in a West Auckland stadium.
Prime Minister Bill English used the launch to announce a $379m education package including digital learning for senior students, more resources for maths, and a guarantee that all primary school students will be able to learn a second language if they choose to.
English’s speech largely focused on National’s record in office and the education package, which also included an expansion of the student assessment system National Standards.
‘‘First, we want our young people to have the best opportunity to take advantage of new technology – to become the next Mark Zuckerberg or Rod Drury or Frances Valintine,’’ English said.
Included was $48m invested in ‘‘new digital learning opportunities’’ for year 12 and 13 students where new digital academies will offer 1000 students specialised, IT-focused learning.
‘‘They’ll be similar to our Trades Academies.’’
New digital internships will provide mentoring and tailored learning from businesses for 500 year 12 and 13 students, a pathway between skills gained in the classroom and real IT careers.
The second part of the package is a $126m investment to raise maths achievement for primary school students.
‘‘National Standards show we need to lift our game in maths.
‘‘We’ll help 1200 teachers a year complete extra university papers targeted at teaching maths to primary students.
‘‘We’ll also provide intensive classroom support for students, where schools have identified the need to improve their maths.’’