August 10, 2021
$5b hole in Maori health claim
Waitangi Tribunal health claimants have told the crown that iwi and Māori health providers have been short-changed by more than $500 million over the past two decades – and health spending on Māori is $5 billion a year short of what is needed to address health inequities.
The figures were calculated by independent economists Sapere as part of a redress submission.
National Hauora Coalition chief executive Simon Royal says even by the terms of the crown’s primary health care strategy which was operational during much of that period, the providers should have been sharing $1 billion a year.
While the figures may seem a hard ask of the crown, it fits with what he has seen in 20 years of working in the sector.
"District health boards have disinvested in Māori health and Māori providers and Māori primary public heath organisations when they should have been significantly investing and shifting the larger quantum of resources over to Māori health organisations and into Māori communities," Mr Royal says.
The Sapere Report was handed over last week to the Waitangi Tribunal and the Crown, and he hopes its findings are included in the design of the new Health New Zealand and Māori Health Authority structure.
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