Eligibility for publicly funded health service

New Zealand has a world-leading health system which makes most services available free (or subsidised) to people who meet the eligibility criteria.  Some people in New Zealand don’t qualify to have these services paid for by the New Zealand Government and are required to pay for their healthcare.  

The New Zealand Government strongly recommends visitors and non-eligible people obtain insurance that includes health cover during their stay.

The Ministry of Health has an Eligibility Checklist which we use at CM Health.  The checklist is only a guide. For more details on each question and advice on information, you need to provide to prove your eligibility, see the “Guide to Eligibility Criteria” on the Te Whatu Ora website.

CM Health has an eligibility team who can assist with any patient enquiries including estimates for treatment.  If you have any queries, please email , phone: (09) 276 0060.

What should I bring if I need to prove my eligibility?

Eligibility can often be confirmed by accessing information from government agencies (e.g. other Auckland Hospital, Immigration NZ, Department of Internal Affairs). We also ask the referring provider to provide your eligibility proof if they have it on file.

If we need to clarify your eligibility, we may access other government agency information and in doing so, may disclose relevant personal information. If we cannot verify your eligibility by these processes, we will contact you directly. Please do not be offended. This is standard practice for all patients of any background. Even if you are a New Zealand citizen, we are required to confirm your eligibility if we don’t have it already. Once eligibility status has been recorded by us, patients will not usually be asked again.

To make sure we have the correct information, we recommend that a patient brings with them:

• Passport (including all pages that have a New Zealand immigration stamp or sticker plus the photo page).
• Your New Zealand birth certificate (and marriage certificate if your last name has changed).
• Your New Zealand citizen certificate
• Confirmation of Citizenship or Confirmation of Permanent Residency or other residency status photo identification (if no passport).
• These details will be recorded in our database.

More information is available on the CM Health website.