Balls not so Golden – Simeon’s manufactured funding crisis and health privatisation gets roasted by Treasury
Looks like Simeon’s balls aren’t so golden anymore, Treasury have roasted Simeon’s budget by highlighting the true cost…
Simeon Brown challenges Treasury over plans to cut health spending
Health Minister Simeon Brown has attacked Treasury officials over their analysis of his Health Delivery Plan, which said Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora will need to double its spending-cut target in the coming year and limit health workforce pay increases to an “unprecedented” degree.
Health NZ told Treasury it had to find $600 million in savings in the 2024/25 fiscal year and would need to find a further $900m in the current year and $200m next year in order to break even in the 2026/27 year.
However, because the Government was loading additional responsibilities onto Health NZ at the time it was struggling to manage its existing responsibilities, Treasury reckoned even greater cuts will be required to break even and meet the Government’s demands at the same time.
…I’m not sure what depresses me most, that Simeon Brown has purposely manufactured a funding crisis so he can privatise public health, or that he’s doing it so blatantly and Kiwis don’t seem to notice…
Health NZ told to give private hospitals 10-year outsourcing contracts
Health NZ has been directed to give private hospitals 10-year outsourcing contracts to perform elective surgeries.
Health Minister Simeon Brown made the request in his Letter of Expectations to Health New Zealand’s Commissioner Lester Levy, which was sent in March, but only publicly released recently.
Brown announced last week that nearly 10,000 elective surgeries had been performed, most outsourced to private hospitals, putting Health NZ on track to reach its end-of-June target of more than 10,579 operations.
…he has underfunded Health by not including inflation, population growth or aging patients, while he pumps more public money into private health.
Look at how bad the funding is…
…they have money for landlords, the rich and their donor mates, but they don’t have any money for our collective health.
KIWI – why are you allowing corporate interests to take over our public health?
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While we continue to ignore the known causes of disease and treat the symptoms only we are always going to have problems paying for the health system, starving the public system to increase the profits in the private health system will only make things worse but our current government is unable to understand the cause and effect principle.
Your comment about health is very true .Walk round the local supermarket and you can see rows of death .Sugary soft drinks ,potato chips ,ultra. processed meat ,smokes the list goes on . All these lines are OK as a treat but they need to be taxed to make them less affordable.
Yes poverty is the cause of most of NZs social and health situations .The billions being handed to land lords and weapon sellers could be invested in housing families who are living on the street and feeding the kids in school and getting all those kids into school daily .A billion would fund school lunches for five years or provide school uniforms and shoes along with a pick up and drop off service for long term truants .Stop the parent bashing and focus in on the kids for christ sake .NZ needs to fix NZ from the bottom up not the other way round .
Sheeple NZ is alive and kicking
Brown is just a shallow little cunt. Expect more health professionals to head offshore if they are to be the scapegoats in health funding cuts.
Brown fucked up transport and is doing the same with health .
Thats why the public system is now funding private hospitals with 10 year contracts and paying for drugs for private insurance cancer patients because they are all under insured .Those 10 year contracts will be used by the insurance owned private hospital to subsidize their insured customers as in the case of the cancer drugs .The insurer only covers 4 of the 12 required infusions so 8 are being paid for by the public system which results in a public patient being bumped down the list .
Thats why the public system is now funding private hospitals with 10 year contracts and paying for drugs for private insurance cancer patients because they are all under insured .Those 10 year contracts will be used by the insurance owned private hospital to subsidize their insured customers as in the case of the cancer drugs .The insurer only covers 4 of the 12 required infusions so 8 are being paid for by the public system which results in a public patient being bumped down the list .
I notice Luxons mate Levy is still lurking in the back ground drawing the million dollar salary and cooking the books .