While he had successfully lowered his blood pressure by changing his diet and he attended fitness classes to help with his breathing, the medications were vital. "I am very concerned," Mr Ngahau said.
Surviving on the pension was "a battle" and he was worried what impact the increase in prescription charges would have on older people, particularly those like him who were on multiple medications.
"I see some elderly people, without it going up, who are not eating very well because of the cost of things. They're living by themselves and trying to make their way," he said.
Some of his relatives in their 80s and 90s, upon hearing about the increase, had told him they would be "better off dead".
"I'm just surviving myself at the moment on the super. It's really a battle. Its going to be too much financial pressure on them. I'm feeling very, very concerned for the elderly," he said.
"It's going to be up on medication and down on groceries. There's no other way."
Mr Ngahau said he would like to see pensioners exempt from the increase. "All their lives they have been paying taxes and now they are being punished."
Lyn Tissingh, nurse manager at Asthma and Respiratory Management Bay of Plenty, said the increased prescription charges would have the greatest impact on people with chronic conditions who needed medication on a regular basis.
"A lot of our clients can't even afford $3," she said.
"Some have more than one inhaler - the reliever and the preventer - and they can't afford both so they just get the reliever."
Often people came to the centre, which provided education and advice, asking for inhalers, however, she was unable to provide them.
On several occasions staff had taken people who were struggling to breathe to Tauranga Hospital's accident and emergency department.
"It could put more pressure on the emergency department, especially over the winter months."
Pharmacist Mark Arundel, of Bethlehem Pharmacy, said he would have preferred a more tiered system. Every pharmacy and medical practice had people who struggled to pay the simple prescription charge, and the blanket increase made no attempt to target funding to those who needed it the most, he said.
He was also surprised that there had not been a review of the industry.
"I think it would have been a good idea to review the whole picture in terms of not increasing the barriers to some people that really need access in a time of tight funding," he said.
Minister of Health Tony Ryall this week announced the increase, which would take affect from January 1, 2013. The new charge would apply on up to a maximum of 20 items. He said the savings from the increase in prescription charges would amount to $20 million in the first year and $40 million in subsequent years, which would be invested in the health sector.
The Budget would provide $101 million of extra funding over the next four years for elective operations and scans, and improved cancer services, Mr Ryall said.
Medicines New Zealand general manager Kevin Sheehy said the organisation welcomed the increase and hoped the money raised from it would go towards funding innovative medicines that New Zealanders currently did not have access to.
"With the cost of new medicine development increasing due to increased regulatory requirements for clinical trials, it could also be beneficial to link the prescription charges to inflation," Mr Sheehy said. "We support this increase, as robust systems such as community services or high user health cards remain in place to ensure those who require financial assistance are still able to access prescription medicines."