Secrecy Surrounds Medicine Price Increase

new-zealand-first-party

Tue Dec 11 2012 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

Secrecy Surrounds Medicine Price Increase

Tuesday, 11 December 2012, 1:04 pm
Press Release: New Zealand First Party

Barbara Stewart MP
Spokesperson for Health
11 December 2012

Secrecy Surrounds Medicine Price Increase

The Government has been accused of bringing in new increased prescription charges by stealth.

New Zealand First health spokesperson Barbara Stewart says even pharmacists have not yet been officially advised of the prescription increase from $3 to $5 an item on New Year’s Day.

“Pharmacists who have contacted the Ministry of Health have been told that Minister Tony Ryall does not want any posters prepared advising the public of the increased charge.”

Mrs Stewart says it is obvious the Minister is aiming to shift the blame for the increased price from the Government to the pharmacies during the holiday period.

“This is the sort of stunt that has become typical of this Government. They inflict increasing damage on ordinary people and then try to blame someone else.

“When hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders pay extra for their prescribed medicine from January 1 they should realise that it’s only the start of the misery the Government will inflict on them in 2013,” says Mrs Stewart.

ENDS

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