Cancer is becoming rife in our communities and when combined with the waiting time for scans and treatment, exacerbated by underfunding and skill shortages, health insurance is more a necessity than a luxury.  

It’s been reported that Kiwis have the worst access to funded modern medicines of the 20 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. 

Between 2011-2018, we spent less than eight other OECD countries with similar public health systems and procurement methods.

Only 5.2 percent of our health budget goes towards funding medicines, less than half that of the United Kingdom, which had the next lowest spend at 11.9 percent.

The funding shortfall has meant only 34 medicines have been publicly funded in NZ between 2011 and 2020.

An example is Tafinlar, a melanoma drug that costs about $132,000 a year. An application for this drug to PHARMAC was made in 2015, with no progress having been made since 2017. It's concerning to think about the emotional and financial stress that could have been lessened if this drug was able to be accessed by people earlier.

C & R Insurance has policies that can assist people to get cover for treatment and drugs that are not government funded. You might be surprised at how little it costs to add cover for cancer, or non-pharmac funded medicines.

A typical healthy male in their mid 40s, non-smoker to add Non-Pharmac $200,000/year to their current policy is only $12 per month.

And for a healthy female in their mid 40s, non-smoker to add to their current policy $14 per month. 

That’s about the same as two coffees at your favourite café. Hospital plans range depending on your cover and excesses and health conditions. Here are some indicative premiums* based on the insured being a healthy non-smoker.

Mid 20s - $65/month

Mid 30s - $73/month

Mid 40s - $98/month

Mid 50s - $179/month

Mid 60s - $350/month

Talk to your broker today to ensure you’ve got the right sort of health insurance for you and your family sooner rather than later.  

*Terms and conditions apply and premiums are derived from assumptions and is for the purpose of giving indications