6. Hon TONY RYALL (National—Bay of Plenty) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
What are the eligibility criteria for publicly funded prescription subsidies, and how are these monitored and audited?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Minister of Health) Link to this
Eligibility criteria under the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000 are somewhat complex. One criterion is, of course, that a person have a medical condition that could benefit from treatment. Another criterion is that a person be either a New Zealand citizen or New Zealand resident, or a person applying for refugee status, or a person from a certain country—for example, the UK, Australia, Niue, Tokelau, and the Cook Islands—or a student on a certain type of visa. These criteria apply to all publicly funded health and disability services. If an individual is not eligible for a subsidised prescription, a prescription can still be provided but at an unsubsidised rate. Overall subsidies and subsidy claiming are routinely audited by HealthPAC.
Why did the Government do nothing, despite repeated warnings that overseas visitors were getting subsidised medicines and legislation, which is against Government policy, and why did the army of Ministry of Health auditors not pick this up?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
That would depend on whether the member was referring to the current Government or to his own party when in Government, as it appears that these issues have been around for a very long time.
Jill PettisIs the Minister aware of any actions that are being taken to minimise the number of ineligible people who are receiving subsidised medication?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
I have asked the Ministry of Health to work with the district health boards and the primary health organisations to ensure that best practice around eligibility is followed by both prescribers and dispensing pharmacists. They are the only people who can ask a patient whether he or she is a resident or is otherwise eligible to receive subsidies in New Zealand. Although some of this work was ongoing, I have now asked the Director-General of Health to set up a special project team to deal with this issue.
Barbara StewartCan the Minister give the House an assurance that problems with recording foreign patient details are restricted to the areas of medicines and lab tests; if not, will he act urgently to ensure that foreign patients are not accessing subsidised health care in other areas at the expense of New Zealanders in need?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
I can assure the member that a number of actions have been ongoing. In particular, I can confirm that clear directives have been issued to ensure that hospital treatment is not provided to ineligible non-residents without their status being recorded, and that steps are taken to recover those costs as appropriate.
Does the Minister recall that the Government bought a stockpile of publicly funded antibiotics as part of its pandemic plan, and promised that this publicly funded medicine stock would be rotated to avoid expiry; and who is responsible for monitoring it?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
If the member would like the Minister to be briefed on pandemic preparations, I suggest he put it down in the original question.
Can the Minister confirm that the Government forgot about the expiry dates on those antibiotics, and that now almost $1 million worth of them have had to be poured down the drain; and is this yet another example of waste and mismanagement by the Labour Government?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
If the member was more popular with his colleagues, he might get more primary questions and therefore could ask that question sensibly.
Does the Minister remember signing this document, which is an answer to a written question that confirms that almost $1 million of antibiotics have had to be poured down the drain because they are past their expiry dates; and why were these drugs not made available to New Zealanders, instead of their being subject to waste and mismanagement that has seen $1 million of valuable health money wasted because this Government forgot about the expiry dates?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
In the first place, it is a little difficult to read it from here, especially when the member is shaking like a leaf. If the member is suggesting that the Government dispense Tamiflu medicine to people who do not have avian flu, I am glad that he is not my clinician.
Dr Jackie BlueWhat will the Minister tell New Zealanders who desperately want new medicines to be funded, when they hear that he has just poured almost $1 million of their pharmaceutical budget down the drain?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
The Opposition is quite clearly having a hard day; it is stretching the boundaries of relevance to the primary question. If Opposition members would like a considered response on pandemic preparations, they should get the support of their whips to put a question on the Order Paper, like any other grown-up in the House does.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. Would you confirm that answers to written questions are provided by the Minister who was asked the question, and can you explain how a Minister can say that he knows nothing about the matter despite the fact that he signed out the written answer?
Madam SPEAKER
Hon Pete HodgsonCan the Minister confirm that at an earlier time, when this country was preparing for a possible pandemic, a clear decision was taken to have a surge capacity of, especially, injectable antibiotics and Tamiflu brought into the country, in the knowledge that if there was no pandemic they would be wasted; and, furthermore, that the budgetary process for doing so was clear and transparent at the time, and made public; if so, what is new?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
As the member knows, I have a very high regard for the work of my predecessor in this respect.
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
Oh yes, I do, Mr Ryall; oh yes, I do. Further, I venture to suggest that if my predecessor had not made such a wise decision in that case, we would be facing exactly the opposite questions from the Opposition today—especially if, God forbid, anyone had caught avian flu.
I seek leave to table the statement made by Dr Moodie that district health board hospitals have agreed to manage rotation of the stock in order to minimise stock expiry.
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. Because of the barracking from the member’s colleagues, it was a bit hard to hear him. Did I hear him say that he opposed the idea of minimising wastage by rotation?