ACC moves should worry - CTU

Moves by a new ACC unit to cut costs by targeting long-term clients who claim more than $600 a week are a worrying prospect, according to the Combined Trade Unions (CTU).

A report today said that in the six months since the recover independence unit was formed, 721 people have been dropped from ACC - roughly, twice the number as would normally be expected to leave.

An internal document obtained by The Press under the Official Information Act said the unit focused on cases with potential for "quick wins through targeted intervention".

It said there was a need to balance the needs of clients with"an increased focus on scheme liability, cost containment and value for money".

ACC long-term claims project leader Phil Riley said the unit was formed to battle rising claims and costs.

But CTU president Helen Kelly said the information was a worrying prospect for all present and future claimants.

"So-called 'high cost' clients are the most likely to have suffered very serious injuries," she said.

"Instead of targeting them simply on the basis of cost, ACC should be developing its services to ensure these accident victims get the best support to rehabilitate them and return them to work."

Ms Kelly said reports that many of those moved off ACC were simply being shifted to the Unemployment Benefit showed that real rehabilitation had not taken place.

"The ACC promise is that the injured will have access to complete rehabilitation and compensation to assist them back to a normal life in exchange for losing the right to sue.

"If ACC starts treating these people as a cost rather than a responsibility then the essence of the scheme is lost."

Ms Kelly said the regime of cost cutting and over-zealous pruning of entitlements had been going on since the Government had taken power.

"It is driven by a desperation to paint a picture of an organisation in 'crisis' through the misleading focus on actuarial liabilities. For the sake of a better bottom line people are being thrown off of ACC on to benefits."

She suspected the Government was trying to turn public opinion against the corporation and the scheme itself by forcing it to take "these unpopular and unprincipled actions".

"People must know that it is the Government driving these unfair cutbacks. It is also obvious that plans to privatise ACC require the cuts to be made now to make the prospects of buying into ACC more enticing for insurance companies," Ms Kelly said.

ACC Minister Nick Smith has said the organisation would be under pressure to manage costs to keep levy increases to a minimum and ensure its long-term financial viability.

- NZPA