Pharmaceutical co-payments
Everyone who is eligible for publicly funded health and disability services should in most circumstances pay only $5 for subsidised medicines.
All prescriptions from a public hospital, a midwife and a Family Planning Clinic are covered for $5 prescription co-payments.
Prescriptions from the following providers are approved for $5 prescription co-payments on subsidised medicines.
- Public hospital
- A midwife
- Family Planning Clinic
- Your GP (as long as they are part of a PHO)
- After Hours Accident and Medical Services (as long as they have a DHB or a PHO contract)
- Youth Health Clinics (as long as they have a DHB or a PHO contract)
- Dentists (only if the prescription relates to a service being provided under a DHB contract)
- Private specialists (only if the prescription relates to a service being provided under a DHB contract)
- Hospices (as long as they have a DHB contract)
- ACC-related claim
There is no prescription co-payment on these medicines for children aged 13 and under.
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/primary-health-care/primary-health-care-subsidies-and-services/pharmaceutical-co-payments
Prescription charges
Many medicines in New Zealand are subsidised by the Government. You make a small contribution to the cost of the medicines you receive when you pay a prescription charge.
The prescription charge for each subsidised prescription medicine is usually $5. This standard charge does not apply to children aged 13 and under. Fees for medicines that are not fully funded by PHARMAC remain the same.
Pharmacies may charge for extra services such as medicines delivery or packaging.
There may be an additional cost if a subscription medicine is not fully subsidised.
Once patients and their families have collected 20 new prescription items in a year, they can get a prescription subsidy, which means they won’t have to pay any more prescription charges until 1 February the following year.
https://www.health.govt.nz/your-health/conditions-and-treatments/treatments-and-surgery/medications/prescription-charges
