Proposed ACC changes privatisation by 'stealth'

Photo / Herald on Sunday

Labour leader Phil Goff says proposed changes to ACC levies are the Government's way of privatising the state-owned injury insurer by "stealth".

Lower earners levies in return for reduced benefits have been put forward as an option in an Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) consultation document.

This could mean reducing fees for motorists with good safety records and increasing them for younger drivers and those who are regularly ticketed. It also proposes lower levies but in return for higher medical fees, longer waits and lower compensation when an accident happens.

Mr Goff told NZPA it was not so much the specific proposals which worried him, but what lay behind them was the Government's desire to move to a user-pays, privatised system.

"This is a National Government which learned from Ruth Richardson that you don't do it all at once but you just bring it in by stealth until people wake up and realise that the system that they once enjoyed is gone.

"It's about preparing ACC for privatisation," he said.

The Government wanted to run ACC like an insurance business, which meant balancing the budget came ahead of wider social impact issues.

"They don't believe in ACC, they're running it down, yet ACC has proven itself to be one of the most cost effective and best systems in the world in terms of keeping your people active and getting them back to work."

The proposed levy changes would favour children who stayed at home and sat on the couch instead of being active because they were less likely to injure themselves, he said.

"The natural extension of it that is we'll start putting levies on elderly people because they're more likely to fall or have an accident. "This is the top of a slippery slope and that's what we're heading towards if they get their way," he said.

ACC minister Nick Smith told the Weekend Herald he would consider the proposals carefully before recommending any such changes.

The Government did not have immediate plans to open up ACC insurance to competition, with Dr Smith saying it would be "a very major decision and, consistent with the John Key pragmatism and cautiousness, we are not in any hurry".

- NZPA