The question is how we make better use of all the capacity we have.
A new MartinJenkins report, commissioned by the Financial Services Council, shows health and life insurance already play an important role in New Zealand’s wider health system. The opportunity now is to better recognise and strengthen that contribution alongside the public system.
Health and life insurance are not alternatives to the public health system. They are complementary pillars of it.
The report shows the average health insurance claim paid per member has risen 75 per cent since 2021, reaching $1,921 in 2025. At the same time, more people are dropping their cover, with policy terminations rising from 7 per cent in 2022 to 9 per cent last year.
“Health insurance is being used more, claims are rising, treatment costs are rising, and households are feeling it," says FSC Chief Executive Kirk Hope.
That creates a challenge. Insurance is helping fund treatment and get New Zealanders access to care, but affordability risks putting that support beyond the reach of more households.
And Kiwis see the potential for a different approach. New FSC polling found 55 per cent want the Government to prioritise greater use of public and private healthcare working together as demand grows.
The FSC’s Election Manifesto calls for practical steps to make that happen, including removing FBT from employer-provided health and life insurance and expanding shared and co-funded healthcare models.
“The question isn't whether public or private healthcare should do everything but how we build a system where Kiwis can get the care they need sooner, bring public waiting lists down, and protect more households for when something goes wrong,” says Hope.
The public and private systems already work alongside each other. The opportunity is to make them work better together.