Why you should care about the public health system even if you "go private"

Here are three reasons why you should still care about our public health system even if you are fortunate enough to be able to afford health insurance:

1. The private health system doesn’t care for sick or complicated patients. If you get really sick, only the public health system will look after you, even if you’ve had a complication from a procedure done in private. All the fancy woodwork, soft lighting, and yummy food in the world won’t replace the skilled and dedicated professionals who’ll look after you in a public hospital.

2. The private health system doesn’t take care of emergencies. Only the public health system provides reliable emergency care. Sure some private groups contract with the government to provide “urgent care” but this is not covered by insurance. And if the problem you present with is worrying enough, you’ll be sent to a public emergency room anyway.

3. Nearly ALL doctors working in the private system have been trained and supervised in the public system. The private sector contributes NOTHING to the education and training of New Zealand medical students and junior doctors. To repeat: all supervision, teaching, mentoring, support and remediation of doctors-in-training is provided in public. Even for fully-fledged doctors it is mostly your tax dollars that provide funding for ongoing training and education.