October 09, 2019
Maori denied ACC care contracts
A Waikato Maori health leader has asked the Waitangi Tribunal to look at whether Accident Compensation Corporation policies are causing Maori to miss out on vital services.
In her statement of claim for the stage two of the Health Services and Outcomes Kaupapa Inquiry which started with a judicial conference, Lady Tureiti Moxon says ACC excludes Māori organisations from providing care to Māori.
Her Te Kōhao Health only has six to 10 ACC home support clients at any one time, despite having 9000 enrolled whānau.
This is in contrast with Te Kōhao Health’s overall home support client base of 300 clients, and it is capable of providing a high quality service to substantially more.
She says despite Māori having the highest percentage of ACC claims and injuries, the commission has not contracted with any Māori group.
It’s symptomatic of the health sector as a whole, where Maori health plans are drawn up with no Maori input.
Lady Moxon says with more than 200 claimants coming under the umbrella of the stage two inquiry, more wananga will be needed to work out how the hearings should proceed.
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