NZ private care grows

Pressure on the state health services and increasing provision of health insurance as part of an executive package deal have fuelled a growing demand for private health insurance in New Zealand. More than one in three New Zealanders now has private health insurance. Almost half of the country’s 24,000 hospital beds are provided by private health organisations and private health insurance pays for a quarter of hospital patient care. Even public hospitals use private healthcare facilities when public wards have no beds available.