King Annette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to MembersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeKing Annette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members[Sitting date: 24 June 2014. Volume:699;Page:18780. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]8.Hon ANNETTE KING (Labour—Rongotai)to the Minister of Health: What was the original forecast cost for Health Benefits Limited and what is the revised forecast cost now if any?Hon JO GOODHEW (Associate Minister of Health)on behalf of theMinister of Health: I am advised that the answer to the member’s question is complex because Health Benefits Ltd’s budget changes as the various programmes advance. Health Benefits Ltd receives a budget allocation of around $6 million per annum for its operating costs. In addition it receives funding from district health boards for each business case to progress business case implementation.Hon Annette King: Have the benefits of Health Benefits Ltd’s finance and procurement supply programme been reduced by at least a third have costs ballooned by 35 percent has the payback period been pushed out to more than 60 years and is the programme now running 2 years late; if not what are the revised projections?Hon JO GOODHEW: I am certainly unable to confirm the veracity of those particular claims but what I am able to confirm is that the Health Benefits Ltd programme’s importance to the health sector is currently this: it was set up to enable district health boards to live within their means to meet the Government’s expectations for health service delivery and to deliver cost savings to each district health board for front-line services.Hon Annette King: Has the Minister been alerted to the prospect that Health Benefits Ltd will not seek re-approval from district health boards before siphoning off more of their health dollars to their Health Benefits Ltd programme that there will be reduced benefits and that the payback period is to be extended and does that sound like a Ponzi scheme rather than a poncy scheme; if not what is it?Hon JO GOODHEW: I am certainly advised that the Minister is well aware that the district health boards will play a very big part in any further cost to them of achieving the savings in the future. I would also suggest that any claims of Ponzi schemes 12 weeks out from an election certainly sound like the sort of political rhetoric we would expect.Hon Annette King: In light of that answer why has Health Benefits Ltd’s work programme been described as “manifesting all the hallmarks of large-scale high-profile public and private sector failure but its similarities with Ponzi schemes are striking.”?Hon JO GOODHEW: That may well be the opinion of someone. However it is the opinion of this Government that the savings that have been achieved by Health Benefits Ltd alongside of district health boards are certainly worthy of happening. I give as examples $16 million this year on banking and insurance $34 million this year on regional shared services initiatives and $6 million on the procurement of gloves which I am told is probably 500 hip operations. It is very important to this side of the House.Hon Annette King: In light of the growing concerns about cost escalation lack of transparency delays in implementation reduced benefits and risk to the health services as quoted by the chief financial officers of district health boards is he prepared to ask the Auditor-General to urgently investigate Health Benefit Ltd’s programme; if not why not?Hon JO GOODHEW: What I can advise the House is that the governance arrangements for the four committees—that is the Finance Procurement and Supply Chain Committee the Procurement and Supply Chain Subcommittee the Finance Subcommittee and the Design Authority—were set in place during the period of March and April this year. I am also advised that the—Hon Annette King: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You will recall that I asked in light of a number of issues was the Government prepared—Mr SPEAKER: The essence of the question is whether the Minister was prepared to ask the Auditor-General.Hon Annette King: Yes thank you Mr Speaker.Mr SPEAKER: That was the question. Could the Minister address that part of that question.Hon JO GOODHEW: I am advised that the Minister is well aware of the concerns of some of the chief financial officers which was certainly part of the member’s question and that the Minister has certainly been encouraging the chief financial officers to continue to work with Health Benefits Ltd to achieve the savings. However it is completely understandable that people who are in the midst of this significant change will be asking questions and will be concerned for their very own jobs.