Eligibility for Funded Tests
The Ministry of Health provides funding for laboratory testing services. Not all services are provided free of charge and not all patients are eligible for funded tests. Those patients who are not eligible will need to pay for their tests at the time of specimen collection.
Referring Health Practitioners are responsible for confirming that a patient is eligible for free tests.
For more information on test funding eligibility, please visit http://www.moh.govt.nz/eligibility.
All patients, regardless of nationality are required to pay when having tests for the following reasons:
- applying for an immigration permit or visas
- overseas travel purposes, eg check of immune status pre-travel vaccinations
- life insurance purposes;
- pre-employment health checks, eg., hepatitis status or MRSA screen;
- occupational testing or checks eg., lead or mercury levels, drug testing;
- purpose of health clearances where a certificate is required
- wellness testing – health checks, lifestyle programmes such as slimming, anti-aging
- purposes of monitoring abused substances;
- a referral from a dentist, naturopath or an alternative health provider;
- self referral of tests
- clinical trials, surveys, certification or legal purposes.
All patients who are non-New Zealand citizens are also required to pay all tests unless:
-
they are a resident of the United Kingdom or Australia having urgent care (reciprocal arrangements exist);
-
they have a current work permit valid for at least 2 years, or renewed continuous work permits totaling at least 2 years;
-
they have refugee status, or are in the process of applying for refugee status;
-
they are having maternity care (includes pre and post natal) and their partner is a NZ resident;
-
the testing relates to an accident, in which case it is covered by the ACC;
-
they are a student funded under NZAID, an ODA scholar or a Commonwealth Scholarship holder;
-
they are the spouse or dependent child aged 19 or under of an ODA scholar.