We don’t need to carry out extensive research or a nationwide survey to know that one question is asked more than any other about healthcare in NZ – why is it so expensive? It’s a question you have probably asked many times, and it might even highlight a real issue facing you and your family right now: a reluctance to access the care you need because you’re worried about how you’ll pay for it.

Affordability and accessibility are one and the same in our opinion. That’s why we want to remove the financial barriers that prevent you from looking after the health of your family. By doing that we can help you overcome the high costs of healthcare in New Zealand. The reasons for that are many and varied and include:

• Drug costs continue to increase.  The astronomical cost of drug development means there’s less incentive to develop drugs with lower profit potentials, even if those medications could be of benefit to particular groups with rare diseases or public health in general.
• Specialists and doctors provide a service at a cost. In other words, these highly trained health professionals are paid very well for what they do and this has to be covered by someone. That someone is you.
• New technology is extremely expensive. The latest medical technology used for diagnosis, testing and general/surgical procedures saves lives but the investment in that technology is a more than substantial one.
• Demand is higher. As our population ages, the demand for health services increases. The famous economic model of “supply and demand” applies even to healthcare and this is reflected in higher costs right through the system e.g. consultations, testing, treatment, and drugs.
• Administration costs remain high. The provision of health services the world over is reliant on administrators. In a large bureaucracy like a health system, even one that uses a high degree of automation, administrative services add a significant amount to the overall expense associated with healthcare.

There is no argument about the quality of healthcare in New Zealand. It is a real shame that cost stops you from gaining the full benefit of those world-class health services. HealthNow is on a mission to improve your accessibility through affordability – as we said, they are one and the same. Our service will allow you to split the cost of treatment over time and across all healthcare streams through a frictionless in-app process. It’s tailored to your requirements and always interest-free, so it will remove the stress of payment at the time of need. This “buy now pay later” will give you the care you deserve, and in a wider sense, we want it to encourage users and communities to make better and proactive health choices.

Healthcare is expensive for many reasons – it’s time to remove high costs from the equation and make it easier for you to access the services you require. For the sake of your health, and the health of your family, we invite you to contact us to find out more about how we can help you.