Many medicines are subsidised by the government and New Zealanders can reduce their medicine costs through the prescription subsidy scheme - capping the total amount a patient will pay for prescriptions per year at $100.
“You become eligible for the subsidy once you have paid for 20 prescription items from 1 February each year. Once you’re eligible, you do not have to pay any more prescription charges for the rest of that year (to 31 January),” the Ministry of Health states on its website.
Labour MP Marja Lubeck was one of dozens of people who reacted to Collins’ post on social media.
Lubeck characterised the comment as a “personal attack”, saying it was “all National has left. No vision, no plan, no costings, no idea”.
Dr Rawiri Taonui tweeted that the comment was “callous and uncaring”.
The new policy sees patients no longer having to face a $5 top-up fee for funded prescriptions, but the National Party says it will not survive a change in Government.
“We would not have universal zero fees,” National’s finance spokesperson Nicola Willis said.
“We would expect that there would be some New Zealanders who would still pay a prescription charge.”
When National Party leader Christopher Luxon was asked about Labour’s initiative, he said: “We certainly don’t support that.”
The removal of the prescription co-payment was the centrepiece of spending on health in Budget 2023.
Health Minister Ayesha Verrall said it would ease household budgets while relieving pressures on hospitals. About 135,000 adults did not collect their prescriptions because of cost in 2021-22, Verrall said.
The removal of the fee was applauded by advocates and frontline staff, who said the $5 charge often determined whether patients collected their medications or not. The $5 co-payment was charged per item, meaning people with complex conditions could face large monthly bills.
Pharmacy Guild chief executive Andrew Gaudin said it would make a “huge difference” to some patients who could not afford the fees and “had to make difficult choices when they are sick”.
The policy, costing $618 million over four years, was based on a University of Otago study that showed lower-income households who received free prescriptions were less likely to be hospitalised and spent fewer days in hospital than similar families who paid a fee.
Key Highlights of the Budget 2023:
