Question for any Kiwis out there....

[suzyj]

My 1yr old DD has very recently diagnosed peanut anaphylaxis - see my other thread! - and we are leaving for a work placement in NZ before she's going to be able to get to an allergy clinic here.

I know that NZ healthcare is very good, so no qualms there, but I do want to know what I should do to make the registering process simple. What documents do I need? What would it cost, cos I understand that the system is a mix of private and state. Is it worth getting my company to pay for private health cover?

Suzyj, I don't know anything about NZ but if your company does pay for private health care, check out that it will cover a pre-existing condition. We've just had a stint in Indonesia and my dh's company health care package wouldn't pay for anything pre-existing.

Suzyj ... we are in Auckland. We have health insurance through DH's work but there are lots and lots of different levels ... so I would look into it. The deal we have is that we have to pay to see the doctor ($40 - $50 a go) but if we need an operation we get that on the insurance. We chose that deal because we (DH and I) don't go to the GP very much (both been once in 18 months ... so paying for that bit of the insurance would be a waste of time IYKWIM) ...
Children's visits to the GP are technically free up until the age of 6 but it depends on where you live ... we live in South Auckland so it is free for us but in the 'posher' areas I think you pay $5 for a GP visit .... I really don't know whether big things for children are free or not - our DS is covered on our insurance too ...
There is an excellent children's hospital in Auckland called 'The Starship' ...

The person to ask re. allergies is Sibble ... her little boy has nut allergies too and I believe she has a good specialist for him ... but I have no idea about whether that is on public health or private insurance ....

Hope that helps a bit ...

Our Health Insurance company (the biggest here) is called Southern Cross ... they must have a website ... I will look it up ...

Oh ... just remembered ... actually, if you are not an NZ resident you have to pay for anything and everything ... presumably you will have work permits when you get here?? If you have a 2 year work permit/residence permit or visa you are covered on the public health.

Hi, I live in NZ. The big health insurer here won't pay for anything pre-existing for a period of 3 years. However some company schemes allow pre-existing conditions, for instance my husband's asthma. It is worth asking whether it would be a company scheme and trying to get those preexisting conditions covered.

My private pead/allergy guy is $195 for the first appointment and $100 for each appointment after that. I didn't have to take anything (except my credit card), but it could be worth taking along her existing medical notes.
A trip to the GP is free for children under 6, so under the reciprocal health care arrangement with the UK it should be free for your daughter too. Some doctors charge a surcharge of about $10 if they work in places where the Govt money would not cover their income.
Where are you moving to? There are several kiwi mums on Mumsnet.

Found the Southern Cross Healthcare site ... have a look
HTH ...

Hi suzyj
I did post on your other thread a few days ago but computer crashed and never got around to re-writing plus robinw helped me though my initial shock when DS had his first reaction earlier this year and she seemed to be giving you alot of support. We are in Auckland and DS has a tree nut allergy. To see a 'GP' you can jsut walk into any practice and ask to be seen, mostly children under 2 are free but there is a consultation fee for adults (variable). We now have a permanent GP 9you don't have to as anybody will see you) and from memeory to register we jsut walked in and filled in a form. At the very least I showed my passport but don't think so. You can be refered via a GP to a local hospital specialist in the same way as the NHS works but as we had private insurance we were refered privately as I seemed to get the impression that there would be a long wait for an 'NHS' referal. We were seen within 10 days, had full allergy testing and were prescribed an epipen BUT our health insurance only reimburses 80% of any fee up to a limit of $160 pa (I think) and not for prescriptions. So basically we ended up paying approx. $100 for his consultations then $180 for the epipen. They prescibed 2 but I only have 1 which I have to be really organised to ensure that I remember to drop off and pick up at kindy and everywhere we go. Because of the low demand here (small population etc. we could ony find one with a 1 year expiry date from our neighbour who is a pharmacist so you end up paying $180 each year. Am rambling so will get to the point....Basically if you can have an epipen prescibed before you leave through your GP or push for a consultation beofre you leave it would save you heaps. If your company will give you private health insurance it is really worth it here. I recently returned to the UK and now have another epipen courtesy of the NHS. Not sure if they will cover you for pre-existing conditions here. Could not get travel insurance to cover DS for trip back to UK recently and was paranoid he would eat nuts in some shape or form in Hong Kong but we were fine. Have read this back and it sounds really negative, is not meant to be but it still annoys me that we have to pay for medication for what I consider to be a life threatening condition. the allergy society here is fantastic and once you subscribe you receive newsletter and regular emails letting you know of any changes in the contents of products to contain or not nuts, wheat etc. You can also log onto a govt site where you can check if a product has nuts. 2 of the major insurance co's are Tower and Southern Cross, they may have websites to check about cover before you leave. And lastly, where are you moving to. There are 3 mumnetters here in Auckland who meet regularly and another 2 are joining us from the South Island and Wellington on Monday. HTH.

I sound Mrs Angry not sibble in that post. Ghosty will tell you (hopefully) I am not really scary!!!(cannot do smiley's)

Not scary AT ALL ... a wittle pussy cat ...

Thanks, you lot! Have a lot to think about here. My company is great, but not sure of the insurance cover! I've been given 3 epi-pens so that should help but I'll see what else I can get here to save on the cash.

And, sibble, you don't sound scary at all.

ooh - meant to say, we're going to be living in Christchurch, but i'll be travelling all over the place. It'd be great to meet-up, I'll keep my eyes open for a meet-up thread!

Oh, I'm in Christchurch too. We will be able to have mini mumsnet meet ups. Contact me off line if you need any information on the Garden City, apart from the allergy stuff. My allergy paed is good though a little eccentric.

Hello everyone I am in Christchurch too - Avondale LOL Wow another kiwi on this mumsnet!!!!!

Burwood. I feel another meetup coming on!