Turner Judy: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Turner Judy: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:627;Page:22026] 
JUDY TURNER (Deputy Leader—United Future) 
: 
 I want to refer to the Health Committee’s response to the estimates and I am interested in focusing my 5 minutes on primary health organisations. Certainly funding for the 2005-06 year included $24.9 million for increased primary health organisation enrolments. This was all about extending the subsidies to people in the 18 to 24 age group from 1 July 2005 and then funding in the out-years. In the middle of all this we also come up with the fact that Treasury has said that it is concerned about the sustainability of the current rate of growth in Vote Health. The Minister explained to us that in her view there was a need to rebuild the health system and she included in this issues of staffing infrastructure and facilities. She also made us aware of the fact that a working-group made up of Ministers and officials from Treasury and the ministry has been established to look at the long-term sustainability of health funding. 
In the context of where we are now heading into the election certainly there is evidence to say—and this is mainly anecdotal—that there is a small reduction across the board in hospital admissions. No extensive research has been done to get a clear picture of this but when questions are asked across different district health boards and different projects like KidzFirst Children’s Hospital in Counties Manukau some encouraging outcomes are starting to show themselves. This seems to be linked to the primary health organisations. 
That is the first thing. However when we look at the fact that there are nearly 1.2 million adult New Zealanders across two age categories—spanning 25 to 64-year-olds—we see that both categories are encompassed. Nearly 1.2 million people are actually enrolled in interim primary health organisations. I got that information from an answer to a written question I put to the Minister. So we still have quite large numbers of people who are associated with primary health organisations but who are not yet experiencing the roll-out of the full subsidy. 
National seems to be a bit unclear about what it plans to do about primary health organisations and I have concerns. United Future members are clear. We would like to see this endeavour rolled out. We think it is heading in the right direction and we want some questions asked. We think that the Treasury report when it comes out will be very interesting on whether the funding formula for primary health organisations is exactly right. We have some question marks on that. Certainly reports in the  
New Zealand Herald  
seem to indicate that National has been giving signals that it wants to reverse plans to provide cheaper doctor visits for all New Zealanders and appears to have despite contrary claims by Dr Brash some interest in cuts to health spending. Whether Dr Paul Hutchison is responding to a concern about the sustainability of Vote Health or whether those cuts will be reflected in the tax cuts National is yet to announce is all very unclear. However I do think that voters going into the next 6-week period need to look very very closely at what the parties’ policies are in regard to reducing hospital visits. 
United Future believes very strongly that the real key to a robust health system begins with the ability to access one’s local general practitioner and the ability to afford without hesitation a visit to one’s doctor. It certainly concerns me. I have lived through times of having sick children and having to check my bank balance to see whether I could afford to take them to the doctor and of making judgment calls around the health of my children based on whether I could afford to go. I know the appalling feeling that can create in a family. Therefore I think it is really important that the Government also look very closely at whether doctors and primary health organisations are delivering on these cheaper subsidised cares. Certainly where there is no cap to their co-payment there are some real worries there.