Healthcare in New Zealand

The public healthcare system in New Zealand was set up by the Social Security Act 1938, but since the 1980s there has been more private health insurance. In 2012, New Zealand spent 8.7% of GDP on health care, or US$3,929 per person. About 77% was government expenditure.

• Funding
  • Per capita government spending (PPP Int $): 1,905 (2006)
  • Per capita total spending (PPP Int $): 2,447 (2006)
  • Total expenditure (% of GDP): 9.4 (2006)

20 district health boards were set up in January 2001. They were supposed to improve the health outcomes of Māori. They were closed in 2022 by the Pae Ora Act which set up Health New Zealand and the Māori Health Authority.

In 2023 Health New Zealand started to use an ‘equity adjuster score’ for planned surgery. This prioritises patients according to clinical priority, time spent on the waitlist, their geographic location (isolation), economic situation, and ethnicity. Māori and Pasifika are the highest ranked ethnicities.

There were substantial delays in diagnosis and treatment because of severe workforce shortages. The performance of public hospitals deteriorated after the 2000s.