New Zealand Health Care
and
Medical Tourism

New Zealand Health Care

The New Zealand health care system provides very high quality, cutting edge medical care delivery and has some of the best hospitals you'll find anywhere in the world.

If you are considering a medical vacation and you're looking for very high quality but low cost healthcare then New Zealand could be just the destination you've been looking for.

Beautiful New Zealand

New Zealand is well known for its beauty...from snowy peaks to white sandy beaches, relatively temperate climate, its agricultural industry and more recently its technical and artistic skill in producing motion pictures...do Lord of the Rings and Peter Jackson sound familiar?

Medical Tourism In New Zealand

But what about New Zealand health care, New Zealand hospitals and New Zealand doctors? All very important questions to ask...and have answers to if you require some high quality and affordable surgery or a medical procedure.

New Zealand doctors are trained to a world class standard, many specialists complete their training in North America or Europe at leading centers of excellence in their chosen area of specialization.

Most New Zealand hospitals are Government funded and provide "free" healthcare to New Zealand Citizens...paid for via personal taxation.

There is also a private hospital system available to those with healthcare insurance for speedy access to medical specialists and procedures.

Although New Zealand's public health system is of a very high quality, it does suffer to a degree from being over-burdened with long waiting lists for some non-urgent procedures...even though the New Zealand population is only four million.

Acute care, accident and emergency is all in the public, government funded system and is readily accessed by all New Zealand citizens and visitors with travel insurance. Those without travel insurance will still be treated but will get billed for their treatment...so if you're a tourist, make sure you're covered!

Procedures that fall under the umbrella of medical tourism take place in the private hospital system where facilities resemble a hotel ...similar to that which is provided in the American health care system.

Most procedures that may be of interest to the medical tourist such as plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures, heart surgery, angioplasty and orthopedic surgery including joint replacements are available in the private New Zealand health care system.

International hospital accreditation, ensuring quality hospital standards are adhered to in New Zealand which allows the medical traveller assurance and piece of mind.

What makes New Zealand an affordable medical tourist destination?

Because the government is the key player in healthcare funding in New Zealand, and most hospital care is free or already paid for, private insurance companies have much less impact on healthcare prices than they do in the United States for example.

Also keeping a lid on healthcare costs to the consumer is the government funded Accident Compensation Commission. You can't sue for damages in New Zealand for incidents such as medical malpractice because the ACC scheme covers this. Malpractice insurance cannot get out of control in such an environment and add significantly to the bottom line of consumers healthcare costs.

New Zealand also has a relatively small economy when put into a global perspective and wage and salary costs are less than they are in some very wealthy nations.

What might a procedure in the New Zealand health care system cost?

If you need heart bypass surgery and this procedure is performed in the United States, it will cost you around USD $120,000 if you're uninsured...

In New Zealand the same procedure would cost you around USD $30-$40,000. You would additionally need to factor in out of hospital accommodation and return airfares of course...but you'd still be way ahead.

If you have no medical insurance or your cover is insufficient to pay for major surgical procedures or you just want to save a lot of money...then putting New Zealand on your list of possible medical tourism destinations could be one of the smartest moves you could make.