The Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand (the Guild) welcomes today’s announcement by the Labour Party of their free prescriptions policy, which would see the $5 prescription charge removed for all New Zealander’s if Labour is elected.
Free prescriptions were previously in place for all New Zealanders from 1 July 2023 to 1 July 2024.
Guild Vice President, Brooke McKay says “The Guild has always strongly supported free prescriptions and advocated to fully remove prescription charges for many years. We welcome this policy because we know what a difference it will make to the health of New Zealanders and the wider health system.
“Removing the $5 prescription charge for all patients means more New Zealanders will get the medicines they need to stay healthy and well and out of hospital, reducing pressure on other parts of the health system.”
While children under 14, people over 65, and people with Community Service Cards and their dependents don’t currently pay prescription charges, this still leaves a large group of New Zealanders facing costs to access medicines.
“Removing the charge completely will make a huge difference for many in our communities who cannot afford to pay the $5 charge for each of their prescription medicines and must make difficult choices about their health. We saw the positive impact of full removal in 2023 and have seen many patients struggle since charges were re-introduced”, says Ms McKay.
“This change would be welcomed by community pharmacy teams. Not only will pharmacies be able to help more New Zealanders able to access their medicines without cost barriers, pharmacists won’t have to spend time explaining and collecting co-payments and can instead spend this time on patient care.”