I’ve got a lot of sympathy for the fact there are lower-income people" 

(19-05-2023, 01:10 PM)Oh_hunnihunni Wrote: This reminds me of that guy - I think John Oliver interviewed him, who said he didn't want socialised medicine in America because it might mean he had the same doctor as poor people.

Sometimes the very idea of equity just escapes some people. I understand why the LoO prefers targeted social measures, but the reality is there are many folk who need assistance despite their on paper wealth. No matter where you draw the line for targeting, some will always suffer. Universal is best.

(19-05-2023, 01:56 PM)harm_less Wrote: This twitter thread by 'Kiwi Kali' is so enlightening as to the value of yesterday's prescription charge change to the least advantaged in our population:

"I've been a doctor for over 20 years. As a new graduate in the early 2000s at Middlemore, it took a long time for us to figure out why patients were being readmitted when they'd been discharged with antibiotics for pneumonia or medication for heart failure. Turned out that they were too whakamā to tell us that they couldn't afford what was then a $3 prescription fee. So they quite rightly came back into hospital for a $700/night readmission. Middlemore started sending people home with packs of antibiotics & other common medications, preventing costly readmissions & improving people's health. If it was that obvious 20 years ago, there's no way it's not still a problem now. Health care is so broken, at so many levels, that reducing one barrier to care can only be a good thing."

(19-05-2023, 11:57 AM)Lilith7 Wrote: If elected. Well of course they would.



https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/132083751/budget-2023-national-vows-to-bring-back-5-prescription-fees-if-elected

National Party finance spokesperson Nicola Willis told Stuff National would return the $5 charge to prescriptions if elected, as it was a “nice to have should not be the priority”.

“I’ve got a lot of sympathy for the fact there are lower-income people for whom I don’t want prescriptions to be a barrier. Well, actually, there are already targetted ways of ensuring they don’t face prescription fees,” she said.

“And you have the Chemist Warehouse offering all prescriptions for free. So, in effect, the Government ends up subsidising that and also  

subsidising a lot of higher-income people who are perfectly happy to pay that charge.”

National similarly did not support a move by the Government to make public transport for children under 13-years-old free, and to half the price for children and young adults between 13 and 24-years-old."

"I’ve got a lot of sympathy for the fact there are lower-income people" 

Just no actual understanding - for example that not everyone will live close to &  be able to use a chemist warehouse which tend to be in the cities.

 I'm not sure exactly why it is, but Nicola Willis reminds me strongly of Ruth Richardson.

 National just doesn't seem to comprehend the difficulties for people, which I suppose is hardly surprising.

(19-05-2023, 07:44 PM)C_T_Russell Wrote:

(19-05-2023, 11:57 AM)Lilith7 Wrote: If elected. Well of course they would.



https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/132083751/budget-2023-national-vows-to-bring-back-5-prescription-fees-if-elected

National Party finance spokesperson Nicola Willis told Stuff National would return the $5 charge to prescriptions if elected, as it was a “nice to have should not be the priority”.

“I’ve got a lot of sympathy for the fact there are lower-income people for whom I don’t want prescriptions to be a barrier. Well, actually, there are already targetted ways of ensuring they don’t face prescription fees,” she said.

“And you have the Chemist Warehouse offering all prescriptions for free. So, in effect, the Government ends up subsidising that and also  

subsidising a lot of higher-income people who are perfectly happy to pay that charge.”

National similarly did not support a move by the Government to make public transport for children under 13-years-old free, and to half the price for children and young adults between 13 and 24-years-old."

"I’ve got a lot of sympathy for the fact there are lower-income people" 

Just no actual understanding - for example that not everyone will live close to &  be able to use a chemist warehouse which tend to be in the cities.

 I'm not sure exactly why it is, but Nicola Willis reminds me strongly of Ruth Richardson.

 National just doesn't seem to comprehend the difficulties for people, which I suppose is hardly surprising.

National are smart, I dont need the $5 saving, there are people way worse off that need this.
For everyone else we have chemist warehouse anyway.
One upside is it will help the other local pharmacies that have lost competition due to chemist warehouse, so Nationa'ls plan to give it to community services card holders is the right move.
They can direct the rest of the money towards doctors and nurses who actually get poor pay for the work they do.

(19-05-2023, 07:57 PM)zqwerty Wrote: Chemist Warehouse is sub-standard, they don't give you warning when you need to pick up a repeat and penalize late comers by voiding the script, also often do not have common medication, ie Duolin Inhalers, I went back to my old chemist.

People who earn over a certain amount should be charged full price for medication not get any rebate at all.

100% tax for the rich once they earn over a certain amount, no private ownership of private dwellings after your first primary living house.

Regulate to not allow super-profits, bring back price controls, nationalize the public facilities, electricity, telephones, internet etc

Get the mad-house NZ economy under some sort of sensible control.

No foreign ownership of land or facilities.

(25-05-2023, 08:43 PM)Wainuiguy Wrote: Evidently has not hurt National based on tonight's poll.

(26-05-2023, 10:43 AM)Oh_hunnihunni Wrote: For everyone else we have Chemist Warehouse...

Except no, we don't. We can access them online, if we have the internet and know how to use it. And can pay courier costs. And don't mind our local chemists disappearing as fast as bank branches.

I am one of those who has edited a specialist script dispensing, and taken just the 'cheap' stuff, because I had school fees and a power bill to pay on just one income.

I think the Nats should think this one through. Their voter base is heavy on the blue rinse numbers, and as we age we all start downing meds. Sure, they can afford it, but like the Winter Energy Payment they don't need I cannot see them being that happy at losing a universal benefit.

Nope, this sits right up there with 'getting a bit tired of bilingualism', the LoO is making it easier by the day for his Deputy to aim her increasingly sharp knife.

---

(25-05-2023, 08:43 PM)Wainuiguy Wrote: Evidently has not hurt National based on tonight's poll.

Ahh yes, the polls...

(26-05-2023, 12:10 PM)Lilith7 Wrote: I'm not so sure they'll mind too much about the blue rinse brigade - they know they can't last much longer & won't be around to vote for them long term.

And polls can be dodgy things; the only one which counts is on voting day.

(26-05-2023, 12:26 PM)harm_less Wrote:

(26-05-2023, 12:10 PM)Lilith7 Wrote: I'm not so sure they'll mind too much about the blue rinse brigade - they know they can't last much longer & won't be around to vote for them long term.

And polls can be dodgy things; the only one which counts is on voting day.

The trend of note is the increase in ACT's popularity. It seems to me they're cannabising the Nat's voter base, possible attributable to their appeal to farmers and 'freedom to do whatever the fuck you choose to' individuals with their NRA aligned gun policies and libertarian leanings.

The risk of Luxon and co announcing poorly thought through and insensitive policies is front and centre of where National will place on election day. In many ways Luxon is an asset for Labour's campaigning if he continues his past practices and habit of having to roll back poorly presented sound bites.

To better show what this thread is discussing how about a picture.