A patient advocate has called on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to "rule out completely" the prospect of privatising parts of the health system (file photo). Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi
- Patient Voice Aotearoa says privatisation of healthcare would result in worse health outcomes for those in middle to low-income households.
- ACT leader David Seymour says New Zealanders could get better value for healthcare if the money went to individual private health insurance.
- Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he's open to a conversation about selling off state assets, but only in the long term.
A patient advocate is calling on the prime minister to nip in the bud suggestions from his coalition partners that the health system should be opened to privatisation.
During his State of the Nation speech on Friday, ACT Party leader David Seymour proposed the option of allowing people to opt out of public healthcare, as he advanced the need for greater debate on the controversial topic of asset sales.
"We need to get past the squeamishness," he said.
"We need a higher standard of debate, we've got $570b worth of assets, are we getting a return on it?"
"And if something isn't getting a return, maybe we should sell it and buy something else that will."
Seymour said the country's health system was costing $6000 per person, and New Zealanders could get better value if healthcare funding was redirected towards individual health insurance policies.
Patient Voice Aotearoa chairman Dr Malcolm Mulholland said opening the health system up to more private sector involvement would only benefit the well-off.
"I don't think it's a solution to those in the middle-to-lower income bracket," he said.
"There have been multiple studies conducted overseas where they do have the option of private health insurance and those studies show the poorer you are and the worse off you are, the poorer health outcomes those people receive.
"People with lower incomes tend to have both greater and multiple health needs."
Other countries that utilise private insurance to fund their healthcare systems include Germany, France, Switzerland and the United States.
The US model had shown healthcare to be "unaffordable" for those at the lower end of the socio-economic stratum, Mulholland said.
A health system primarily guided by its bottom line would lead to less accountability around healthcare standards, he said.
"You're participating in a system where profit is king.
"Not only are they looking to charge higher costs but they also have varying standards and less regulation.
"In a public health system, we have a set of expectations that you will go in and receive a high level of care."
David Seymour said he was disappointed by Patient Voice Aotearoa's criticism.
Seymour defended the idea against claims it would only benefit wealthy New Zealanders.
"I haven't actually revealed any great details about what I'd propose, so for Patient Voice Aotearoa to start making these assumptions and criticisms without really knowing the full story, it's exactly the sort of thinking that my speech was an attack on."
Mulholland called on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to "rule out completely" the prospect of privatising parts of the health system.
Luxon said he was "open to a conversation" about selling off state assets, but it would be in the long term.
"What is on our agenda is actually how we accelerate economic growth, but it's something that I'm open to discussing further, in the long term."
The Public Service Association has also implored Luxon to rule out privatisation and asset sales for all public services "now and in the future".
Its acting national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said these "extreme policies" had no place in New Zealand.
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said the prime minister needed "to be absolutely clear" with New Zealanders whether he intends to privatise public services or retain them in public ownership.
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