6. Hon JIM ANDERTON (Leader—Progressive) Link to this
to the Minister for ACC
Can he explain why, in the first 6 months of 2009, almost double the number of people applying for elective surgery under ACC were declined compared with the same period in 2008?
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for ACC) Link to this
Yes. The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) is quite properly being more thorough in ensuring that accident compensation levy payers fund surgery that is a result of an accident rather than of ageing or a degenerative process. This reflects that elective surgery costs have more than doubled over the last 5 years, to $260 million. That is out of step with accident trends.
When Wayne Direen in my electorate was viciously attacked on the streets of Christchurch and required elective surgery to his shoulder as a result of that attack, why did ACC reject his application on the basis that he had a “prior condition to his shoulder”, which, reading the file, is clearly ludicrous?
Hon Dr NICK SMITH Link to this
I am not medically qualified to decide whether an accident has caused an injury that requires surgery, but I note that the review of the gentleman’s case states that the medical evidence supports a finding that the shoulder injury was not the result of the assault, but, rather, the result of a long-standing degenerative process. That matter is now subject to an appeal to the District Court, so I am reluctant to comment further.
Michael Woodhouse Link to this
How many elective surgery operations does ACC expect to fund this year, and how does that compare with the number of applications for surgery?
Hon Dr NICK SMITH Link to this
Over 80 percent of claims for elective surgery are being approved, and this year ACC will fund over 50,000 elective surgery operations. I note that the number of elective surgery operations funded by ACC and the number funded by my colleague the Minister of Health, both last year, in 2009, and this year, in 2010, are expected to be at record high levels.
My office and the offices of other Christchurch MPs are being inundated with people complaining that they have been rejected by ACC because of non-existent prior conditions. Is this a pattern emerging across the country from a Government determined to cut accident compensation entitlements at any cost?
Hon Dr NICK SMITH Link to this
I reinforce for the member that 80 percent of claims are being approved. I am watching closely the results of reviews, and if a trend emerges of medical evidence overturning the decisions of ACC, I am prepared to relook at the issue. The evidence to date shows that those review decisions are upholding the decisions of ACC, and that is not surprising when one sees that expenditure has more than doubled over the last 5 years.
Hon Ruth DysonI seek leave to table four papers. The first is an ACC case summary of a 39-year-old woman who twisted her knee in a motor vehicle accident, and needed surgical repair and 1 week off week. She was declined coverage by ACC.
Mr SPEAKERHon Dr NICK SMITH Link to this
The member is dealing with someone’s personal health issues. Could the member clarify that the person concerned has given consent for that information to be tabled.
Leave is sought to table a document—in this case, a file of a particular person with the name removed. Is there any objection to that course of action? There is no objection.
The second paper I seek to table is an ACC case summary of a 60-year-old who fell and injured her shoulder, was declined accident compensation cover, and has now had to give up her job due to that injury.
I seek leave to table the ACC case summary of a woman in her late 50s who fell and grabbed a rail, causing a haemorrhage in her shoulder. She has been declined accident compensation cover.
I seek leave to table the ACC case summary of an elderly woman who slipped on ice and cracked her elbow, and was forced to use her own savings for private surgery, after losing the use of her arm and being declined accident compensation cover.