ACC proposed for illnesses

Cancer patients and others with catastrophic illnesses would get ACC-funded treatment to get them back to work faster under proposed health reforms backed by interim research released today.

ShapeNZ, run by New Zealand business council for sustainable development to research policy options and make recommendations to government and decision-makers, surveyed 747 people last week on the future of the country's health services.

It found people had serious concerns about the state of health services including waiting times, the cost of visiting a doctor, cancer care chemotherapy and radiotherapy and inefficiencies. However, the results also highlighted support for a package of health reforms.

Official forecasts showed New Zealand's health spending would rise to unaffordable levels if current demand trends and approaches in the health system continued. That was backed by the respondents, of whom fewer than half believed government-provided health services could be funded sustainably in the long-term.

Business council chief executive Peter Neilson said the survey highlighted that people believed it was possible to make the health system more viable long-term with some reforms.

However, the issue was more complex than increasing the number of people with private medical insurance or pumping more money into the public health system.

"There's not one bullet but there are a series of things we could do that people might find acceptable," Neilson said.

Last week, 68% of respondents backed establishing a fund to cover increased healthcare costs for an aging population, similar to the new superannuation fund. Also, 58% supported extending the accident compensation scheme to cover catastrophic illness such as cancer, for which treatment was long-term and would prevent the sufferer from working. A majority 64% believed district health boards or the government should buy health services from private or other health providers, as ACC does, so sick people could get back to work more quickly. Just over half of those surveyed agreed with a proposal to allow public and private hospitals to compete for extra government money for hospital services, such as operations.

However, some suggested reforms were less popular, including only 35% who backed a gradual phasing-in of compulsory health insurance for everyone in employment under the age of 50, with taxpayer funding coverage for those aged under-18 and 50-plus.

Other key findings included 66% who thought waiting times had worsened over the past five years. In contrast, 64% believed health care had stayed the same or improved in five years.

The survey is at www.shapenz.co.nz until October 31. Results will be presented to 80 chief executives, the finance minister and other ministers in Wellington on November 1.

- © Fairfax NZ News