Taxpayers will soon begin footing the bill for newly-funded cancer medicines administered in private facilities for 12 months, under the so-called "transitional access" arrangement. Photo: 123RF
The government's decision to let private patients have publicly-funded cancer drugs is a waste of taxpayers' money, and could even make wait times worse, the Labour Party is warning.
From 1 July, taxpayers will begin covering the cost of newly-funded cancer medicines administered in private facilities for 12 months, under the so-called "transitional access" arrangement.
In a testy exchange with the Associate Health Minister David Seymour at Wednesday's health select committee, Labour Party spokesperson Dr Ayesha Verrall pointed out the vast majority of New Zealanders did not have private health insurance.
"Wouldn't this money have been better spent on hiring oncologists in the public system so that people can get free care there?"
Under the current framework, insurers already picked up the tab for any new medicines that Pharmac funded, so the change did not actually benefit patients in most cases, she said.
"So this money that you are spending on this is achieving almost nothing in terms of access, it's just a subsidy for insurers."
However, Seymour disagreed, saying one should not underestimate the "inconvenience" of having to shift facilities mid-treatment, and people "should not be disadvantaged by the fact that they have taken precaution of having private insurance".
"When you're getting treated for cancer, you just don't want any more problems in your life or inconveniences in your life, you just want to get through it."
He dismissed Labour's characterisation of the change as "subsidising private insurers".
"Insurers don't have any money other than what's paid to them by the patients," he said.
"So ultimately this is also a subsidy for the patients, who are also taxpayers who are entitled to public funding in this country....
"You can always say we could do more if we were prepared to exclude some New Zealanders from care in the public system."
"Everyone is entitled to care in the public system," Verrall responded.
Private patients who were not covered by insurance would still have to pay "infusion" costs to have the medicines administered.
Pharmac chair Paula Bennett said the drug-funding agency had been contacted by patients who were in private care and had insurance before Pharmac started funding more cancer medicines.
"One man was eligible for four treatments but actually needed 12 and he was going to have to move into the public system to receive the other eight.
"The thought of having to change oncologist just to get access to the extra eight treatments that he desperately needed was incredibly stressful."
According to correspondence between officials and the minister's office, which was released to the Labour Party under the Official Information Act, the plan was initially going to be announced in April.
Seymour was unable to say why the announcement had not gone ahead as planned.
Talking points provided to the minister ahead of the Cabinet discussion on 2 April noted no additional funding was being sought for the proposal, but instead Pharmac would "make some trade-offs within the medicines budget" to fund it.
"Numbers of patients that will benefit from transitional access may well be small (likely less than 10 per medicine) but over time this policy will reach patients at a critical time."
In a statement to RNZ, Pharmac director strategy, policy, and performance Michael Johnson said the rule change applied "only to newly funded cancer medicines (medicines funded after 1 July 2025).
"The number of patients expected to benefit from this change will depend on what cancer treatments are funded in the future. "
Verrall said doctors working in the public system feared shifting more resources into the private system would further increase inequities and wait times for patients who could not afford private care.
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