Focus on ACC

Free physiotherapy treatment for accident victims will end in November, ACC Minister Nick Smith said today.

Dr Smith told Parliament's industrial relations committee that cost blow outs in physiotherapy treatment mean it was "inevitable" that part-charges would be introduced.

The Physiotherapists' Association had been given six months' notice that current arrangements would end on November 1.

"The corporation is working with the physiotherapy association on the replacement. What I have said today is that some co-payment is inevitable," Dr Smith said.

It was too early to say what the charges might be.

"We are looking at a number of models, perhaps a very low charge for the first few services you receive and a higher charge for long term, all those options are being explored."

Dr Smith said the last Government had been told free physiotherapy was unsustainable and there was no evidence that it was helping with rehabilitation rates.

The care was budgeted to cost $9 million when introduced in 2004, but was now costing $139 million and was projected to rise to $225 million by 2011-12.

Some of the highest uptake for free treatment had been in wealthier areas such as Remuera and Fendalton.

Currently physiotherapists had a choice of providing a free service, though a small number still received a subsidy but still charged a rate of around $20 to the patient.

If agreement could not be reached with the physiotherapists they would all revert to the current co-payment model from November 1.

Dr Smith said a stocktake of wider ACC service provision was under way and in particular this would look at expansion of the scheme in recent years.

ACC has come in for heavy Government criticism for its perilous financial position.

That continued today, with Dr Smith saying ACC was unsustainable in its current form.

Cost blow-outs had to be brought under control and rehabilitation rates improved.

Dr Smith said no work was being done on introducing competition into accident insurance because sorting out the "mess" in ACC was a higher priority.