Health, eye checks free for over-65s

SuperGold card-holders will get a free annual health and eye check-up as part of health spending that mostly goes to health boards tackling huge treatment backlogs caused by the Covid-19 lockdown.

The promised checks for the more than 750,000 cardholders were included in the NZ First-Labour coalition deal.

They will cost nearly $13 million in 2020/21, rising to about $61.6m a year from 2021/22. The checks may not be available until next year.

The huge injection of health spending largely goes to health boards and was mostly outlined in a pre-Budget reveal, including a one-off boost of $283m over three years to clear a backlog estimated at 153,000 more procedures and appointments.

Covid-19 leaves the biggest mark on Vote Health but there are signs of other major events; mental-health spending to address the ongoing trauma of the March 15 mosque shootings, and $20m paid to the Crown by ACC to treat those injured in the Whakaari/ White Island eruption.

Funding has been set out for the new national cancer agency — with the Cancer Society hailing Budget 2020 as something that “could deliver the world-class cancer care New Zealanders deserve if carefully spent”.

However, the almost $24m a year to “maintain access to primary health services” disappointed the Royal NZ College of General Practitioners, who said GPs had been left out at a time when they would be dealing with a huge number of patients who had postponed seeking care.

Mental Health Foundation chief executive Shaun Robinson welcomed the focus on helping keep people in meaningful jobs as a key to wellbeing, but said the Budget lacked resourcing or an implementation plan for the recommendations made by the report of the mental-health and addictions inquiry.

The spending includes an extra $3.92 billion for health boards, totalling $980m per annum for four years; the oneoff boost of $282.5m over three years to clear backlogs; and ongoing funding of $31.350m a year to cover demographic changes and increasing prices.

An extra $160m will go to Pharmac, $832.5m for disability support services, and $177m to help primary community maternity services.