If you need to call an ambulance you can count on the Public Health Service! Emergencies like heart attacks, a burst appendix or compound fractures are no problem. Public Health has “got your back”.

BUT, if you need surgery, and it can wait 7 or more days (elective surgery) you could have a serious problem. Examples of elective surgery include: heart, cancer, hips and knees, gynaecology, hernias, wisdom teeth, tonsils etc.

Please consider the demand for and the provision of elective surgical services for the year ended 30/06/2018 in New Zealand
148,211 Elective surgeries paid for by Public Health	Public Health services are strictly rationed and there is a waiting list. The average wait time was 304 days. Public Health’s goal is to increase capacity by 4,000 surgeries per year.
170,000 Unmet needs	These are the unlucky folks who can’t get on the Public Health waiting list and don’t have insurance. The elderly and the poor are over-represented in this group.
234,679 Elective surgeries paid for by Southern Cross	Southern Cross is New Zealand’s largest private health insurer. In addition to Southern Cross, there are 8 other private insurers who also paid for surgery in 2018.

Another major concern is that publicly funded cancer care restricts access to the latest “magic bullet” drugs that are so expensive that even the Government can’t afford them. Only private health insurance policies provide a solution to this problem.

Medical treatment will be expensive if you have to “go private”
	Pay up front	OR pay monthly over 10 years
Cancer	$100,000	$1,110
Heart or back	$50,000	$555
Hip or knee	$25,000	$277
Hernia	$10,000	$110

Now let’s consider the best investment you may ever make: Medical Insurance

• Instead of facing the huge potential cost of self-funding just one treatment you make a small weekly investment AND
• In return you get a $1,000,000 annual allowance for medical expenses each and every year for the rest of your life!!