ACC is NOT Free

I am a little tired of hearing that National is doing away with “free” physio. Physiotherapy was never free, we paid for it in our ACC levies. You, me and the guys earning minimum wage. And therein lies the problem. Most of the “free” physio was going to the more affluent. The ones who got the referrals from their GP or the local A&M. The ones who appeared to be using the physiotherapist as their personal masseuse (unless they really were injuring themselves in the same place on a 12 weekly basis).

These consultations were being paid for by the public. In effect, the poor were subsidizing the well-off.

Good economic management dictates that nothing should be completely free if it uses limited resource (like our tax dollars). Zero perceived cost always encourages maximum use and one of the ways this use can be reduced is a co-payment. The vast majority of people who currently access physio will be unaffected by this, as the payment will be small. Physio generally has its maximum gains (in acute injuries) in the first 3-4 sessions, so the overall outlay for most patients will be between $30 and $100.

There are two groups who will be effected by this co-payment. Those who have a very low income and those who needs extensive physiotherapy. The first group would be easily handled by making the first 3-6 physio sessions free for community services card holders, as long as they have a doctor’s referral. The second group should be easy to handle with the normal ARC 18 referral system, as long as the process is streamlined (a small tick box for extended physio, with a box for the recommended number of sessions, should be adequate).

Nick Smith should be applauded for sticking to his guns over this, despite the heavy lobbying by the physiotherapists and the general flak from Labour and their media friends.

$129 million down, $2 billion to go…

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