Healthcare

It’s different. Of course, everywhere is different, and everywhere else is really different from how the US does healthcare.

In NZ there is universal healthcare for some, but not all things. Routine doctor vists, dentists, etc are paid for out of pocket, generally about what you’d pay in the US for a visit if you don’t have insurance, but if you enroll with a practice the government subsidizes part of it so the prices are reduced. Once you are referred to a specialist, costs are covered by the government. The state also covers all emergency care and all hospital costs. Many medications are subsidised so they cost little or nothing, and all care for kids under 13 (including dental) is covered by the state as well.

How it feels in practice takes a little getting used to. When all you’re used to is a $25 copay, it feels expensive to pay $80 to visit the doctor. But seeing how I was paying $150 every two weeks for insurance at home for our family coverage (not to mention the medicare that was automatically taken uut of both our paychecks) it doesn’t take long before you realize that this system is much better for your bottom line.

But as with all things in life, there are trade-offs. In this case, it’s that if you need costly or complicated surgery or something and it isn’t urgent, the waiting list can be months. Private health insurance is offered to eliminate those waits – the prices are less than you’d pay in the US, but not a steal either. Overall we’ve found the standard of care so far to be pretty much the same high quality that we had in the US.