Fees - explanations     Some services cost more because ... they use extra materials, such as

 
• cervical smears preserved in a liquid carrier (ThinPrep)
 
• minor surgery uses local anaesthetic, sutures, dressings
or take extra time, such as  
• well-man checks
 
• immigration medicals
while others require reports to be made up, such as  
• pilot medicals
 
• insurance medicals
  And some services cost less because ... they take little doctor-time and can be double-booked, such as  
• dressing skin wounds like burns, venous ulcers, sutures
or can be handled by the nurse, such as  
• ear syringing

  Our basic fee for a 15 minute GP consultation increased to $72 in October 2010 to match the costs of running the practice. A Price Waterhouse study in 2002, commissioned by the Ministry of Health and others, concluded that to provide a GP income matched to inflation and in line with past incomes, and to maintain historical parity with non-specialist lawyers and accountants, a fee per 15 minute consultation should be around $80.           Under 6-years and other subsidies Many people still think it should be free for under 6 year-olds to see the GP and we couldn't agree more. Unfortunately the government subsidy is only $35. Unless we can supplement this by claiming an immunisation subsidy at the same visit, seeing other children at the same time to make sure their last ear infection has cleared, or charging a fee, we barely cover our costs when we see under-6's.

Some people don't understand this, what they want is the cheapest service.

In 1991 the subsidy for under-6's was increased from $16 to $29 and then it decreased to $25. It remained static until about 1995 when it was raised to $32.50 which doctors argued still did not fully meet their overheads, but an agreement to not charge under-6's was kept. By 2000, the subsidy hadn't changed and some GPs started charging a fee; in July 2002 the subsidy was raised to $35 with the promise of further changes to come in the new Primary Care Strategy.

In 1990, the elderly and benficiaries attracted a subsidy of $12, although this has been increased to $15 for the past few years. All adults had a subsidy of $4 when they saw the GP until 1990, when it was scrapped altogether.

MPs seem to expect regular salary rises, so do teachers, nurses, and other public professions. NZ citizens pay among the highest fees to see a GP in the OECD, or you could say there is a problem with the low level of subsidy.             The Community Services Card You have to apply to Work and Income NZ ph 0800-999-999 for one of these cards, they need to be renewed annually.

If you have seen the doctor and dont have a card but but qualify for one, keep your receipts and you can apply for a remibursement ph 0800-999-999.   Adult $15   Children 6 years and over $20   Prescriptions $3 for subsidised items           Accident Compensation Corporation payments, ACC After many years of static payments to GPs, ACC introduced new fees for treating minor injuries in May 2004. Most of these fees relate only to the first visit.
However, they also introduced a nurse subsidy, as nurses are well able to treat many minor injuries, but until recently it was uneconomic to do so unless the doctor also saw the patient so a claim could be made and costs recovered.

   

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Extra costs

Under-6 years subsidy

Community Services Card

ACC

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