A visit to the doctors just got more expensive for Kiwis, just as the cold and flu season takes hold, and it means some patients will be choosing what medicines they can and can't afford.
From July 1, free general practitioner (GP) visits for COVID-19 patients over age 14 ended and $5 prescription fees have also been reintroduced.
Specialist GP Dr Bryan Betty told AM on Tuesday that if there's an additional cost to going to the GP there is a barrier for people seeking medical care.
However, he added that at some point the free COVID visits was going to have to end.
"COVID is now circulating in the community, it's not going away, it's with us forever along with colds and flus and every other viral illness we get, so that move to treat it like any other viral illness was always going to happen and that's the space we're in at this point."
Subsidies for GP visits for under 14s are still generally free, as well as about $20 for those with a community service card or over 65, Betty noted.
Meanwhile, prescription fees are also still waived for those over 65, community service card holders, and those under 14.
"It's those people who fall outside those groups that are really problematic," Betty said.
"The ones I worry about are probably what we refer to as working poor - those on minimum wage or just above. For those patients it can be difficult to pay those prescription fees, especially if you're on four or five medications - that often comes to $20, $25 - and if you are stretched that is very difficult, I think that's the group that could get affected by this."
Now there's concern people will pick and choose what medications they can and can't afford.
"Before the free 'scripts were brought in, certainly at my practice in East Porirua, it was a very, very common situation for patients not to pick up their medication or to be selective about which medication they would pick up," Betty said.
"It wasn't infrequent to see situations where medications for, say Diabetes, which is a potentially serious disease, weren't picked up, weren't taken because the patient couldn't afford to pay for the medication so… it is a concern, it is a worry and it is something we've seen in the past."
