Kia ora David,

 

Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the
Act), received by the Ministry of Health on 12 January 2026. You
requested:

 

"I am seeking information relating to public funding, policy guidance, or
contractual arrangements that enable or support general practices to
reduce, waive, or eliminate patient fees for primary healthcare services
based on ethnicity, specifically Māori and Pacific peoples.

 

This request is not limited to any particular clinic pricing model or
terminology (such as “membership” schemes), but relates to any mechanism
by which patient fees are reduced or waived.

 

Please provide the following information:

 

Any Ministry of Health or Health NZ (Te Whatu Ora) policies, directives,
funding agreements, or guidance that allow or encourage general practices
to reduce or waive patient fees for specific ethnic groups.

 

Details of any funding streams, capitation adjustments, equity payments,
access funding, or targeted subsidies intended to offset the cost to
practices of providing zero-fee or reduced-fee care to specific ethnic
groups, including:

 

The name of each funding mechanism

 

The eligibility criteria

 

Whether the funding is intended to fully or partially offset patient fees

 

Any analysis, modelling, or evaluation undertaken by the Ministry
assessing:

 

The financial impact of ethnicity-based fee reductions on general
practices

 

Whether such arrangements may result in higher fees for non-eligible
patients

 

Any advice received by the Ministry regarding legal, ethical, or
human-rights considerations of ethnicity-based patient fee structures in
primary healthcare.

 

Any guidance provided to general practices on how ethnicity-based fee
reductions should be communicated to patients, including transparency
expectations."

 

The reference number for your request is H2026077448. As required under
the Act, the Ministry will endeavour to respond to your request no later
than 20 working days after the day your request was
received: [1]http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/.  

 

Please be advised that due dates for requests received on 27 November 2025
onwards will take into account the summer holiday period (25 December 2025
to 15 January 2026). Please refer to this guide for an explanation of
the [2]statutory obligations under the Official Information Act 1982.
 

If you have any queries related to this request, please do not hesitate to
get in touch ([3][email address]).

 

 

Ngā mihi, 
 
OIA Services Team

Ministry of Health | Manatū Hauora
 

M[4]inistry of Health information releases

 

 

------------------- Original Message -------------------
From: david <[FOI #33490 email]>; 
Received: Mon Jan 12 2026 17:04:41 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
To: OIA Requests <[email address]>; OIA <[email address]>; 
Subject: Official Information request - Official Information Act request –
public funding supporting ethnicity-based GP fee reductions

To the Ministry of Health,

I am making a request under the Official Information Act 1982.

I am seeking information relating to public funding, policy guidance, or
contractual arrangements that enable or support general practices to
reduce, waive, or eliminate patient fees for primary healthcare services
based on ethnicity, specifically Māori and Pacific peoples.

This request is not limited to any particular clinic pricing model or
terminology (such as “membership” schemes), but relates to any mechanism
by which patient fees are reduced or waived.

Please provide the following information:

Any Ministry of Health or Health NZ (Te Whatu Ora) policies, directives,
funding agreements, or guidance that allow or encourage general practices
to reduce or waive patient fees for specific ethnic groups.

Details of any funding streams, capitation adjustments, equity payments,
access funding, or targeted subsidies intended to offset the cost to
practices of providing zero-fee or reduced-fee care to specific ethnic
groups, including:

The name of each funding mechanism

The eligibility criteria

Whether the funding is intended to fully or partially offset patient fees

Any analysis, modelling, or evaluation undertaken by the Ministry
assessing:

The financial impact of ethnicity-based fee reductions on general
practices

Whether such arrangements may result in higher fees for non-eligible
patients

Any advice received by the Ministry regarding legal, ethical, or
human-rights considerations of ethnicity-based patient fee structures in
primary healthcare.

Any guidance provided to general practices on how ethnicity-based fee
reductions should be communicated to patients, including transparency
expectations.

I am happy to receive this information electronically.

Yours sincerely,
David

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #33490 email]

Is [Ministry of Health request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests
to Ministry of Health? If so, please contact us using this form:
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Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
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If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

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hide quoted sections

Tēnā koe David, 

  

Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the
Act) to the Ministry of Health-Manatū Hauora on 12 January 2026. You
requested:

 

"Information relating to public funding, policy guidance, or contractual
arrangements that enable or support general practices to reduce, waive, or
eliminate patient fees for primary healthcare services based on ethnicity,
specifically Māori and Pacific peoples.

This request is not limited to any particular clinic pricing model or
terminology (such as “membership” schemes), but relates to any mechanism
by which patient fees are reduced or waived.
 

Please provide the following information:
 

Any Ministry of Health or Health NZ (Te Whatu Ora) policies, directives,
funding agreements, or guidance that allow or encourage general practices
to reduce or waive patient fees for specific ethnic groups.

Details of any funding streams, capitation adjustments, equity payments,
access funding, or targeted subsidies intended to offset the cost to
practices of providing zero-fee or reduced-fee care to specific ethnic
groups, including:
 

o The name of each funding mechanism
o The eligibility criteria
o Whether the funding is intended to fully or partially offset patient
fees
o Any analysis, modelling, or evaluation undertaken by the Ministry
assessing:
o The financial impact of ethnicity-based fee reductions on general
practices
o Whether such arrangements may result in higher fees for non-eligible
patients
o Any advice received by the Ministry regarding legal, ethical, or
human-rights considerations of ethnicity-based patient fee structures
in primary healthcare.
o Any guidance provided to general practices on how ethnicity-based fee
reductions should be communicated to patients, including transparency
expectations."

   

Your request asks for information which is more closely connected with the
functions of Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora). For this reason, the
Ministry has decided to transfer your request to Health New Zealand under
section 14(b)(ii) of the Act. You can expect a response from their agency
in due course. Their contact email is: [1][email address]. 

    

Under section 28(3) of the Act you have the right to ask the Ombudsman
to review any decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be
contacted by email at: [2][email address] or by calling 0800
802 602. 

  

Ngā mihi, 
  

OIA Services Team

Ministry of Health | Manatū Hauora
 

M[3]inistry of Health information releases

 

****************************************************************************
Statement of confidentiality: This e-mail message and any accompanying
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legal privilege.
If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use, disseminate,
distribute or copy this message or attachments.
If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender
immediately and delete this message.
****************************************************************************

References

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mailto:[email address]
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mailto:[email address]
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https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...

hide quoted sections

Tçnâ koe,

 

Thank you for your email. 

 

Under the Official Information Act (OIA), agencies are required to respond
to requests for official information as soon as reasonably practicable and
no later than 20 working days after receiving them.

If your request is for data that Health NZ holds, have you checked
[1]Lighthouse first to see if the data you are seeking is already
published?

 

Lighthouse is a searchable catalogue that makes a range of data and
analytics products available to New Zealanders to enable easier, faster
access to insights about health services.

 

You can find further information about how OIA timeframes are calculated,
including the Ombudsman’s OIA calculator, at the link below:
[2]Official information calculators | Ombudsman New Zealand

 

We will provide a response to your request in line with the statutory
timeframes set out in the OIA.

We appreciate your understanding and patience during this time.

 

Ngâ mihi,
Health NZ | Te Whatu Ora.

Statement of confidentiality: This email message and any accompanying
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Kia ora David, 
 
Thank you for your request for information regarding public funding
supporting ethnicity-based GP fee reductions on 22 January 2026. Please
find attached our response to your request.
 
If you have any questions, please get in touch at
[1][email address]
 
If you are not happy with this response, you have the right to make a
complaint to the Ombudsman. Information about how to do this is available
at [2]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or by phoning 0800 802 602.
 
Ngā mihi, 
 
Anthea
 
Government Services
[3][email address]   

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
 
 
 
Statement of confidentiality: This email message and any accompanying
attachments may contain information that is IN-CONFIDENCE and subject to
legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use,
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received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and
delete this message

References

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