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September 21, 2020
Health card to give Māori voters choice
Waatea Team
Posted On September 21, 2020
In a move that seems close to the ACT playbook, the Māori Party is proposing a whānau health card to allow Māori to buy health services.
Co-leader John Tamihere says health funding must follow the patient, not the GP, Primary Health organisation, District Health Board or Ministry of Health.
He says the card would allow Māori to buy health services from those who give them the best results, not those who continue to fail them.
The party’s health policy includes an independent Māori Health Funding Authority with a $5 billion budget, amplifying and strengthening the model suggested in the Simpson review of health services.
It also wants to see a quarter of the $1.9 billion already budgeted for mental health services transferred to kaupapa Māori services.
Mr Tamihere says for Māori by Māori services were essential given the high levels of drug and alcohol addiction, stress , depression and suicide numbers among Māori.
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