New Zealand Adults' Health Care System Views and Experiences, 2001

The Commonwealth Fund 2001 International Health Policy Survey finds that New Zealanders, on average, were more satisfied with their health care system in 2001 than they were in 1998. Yet a majority of adults in New Zealand continue to believe their nations health care system needs major improvements. Compared with people in the other four countries surveyed Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States New Zealanders were more likely to rate the quality of their health care and physicians positively. On several measures of health care access, however, respondents reported experiences indicate there are inequities based on income and ethnicity. Maori as well as lower-income adults were notably more likely to report going without needed care or experiencing difficulties getting care when needed. Access concerns were often related to cost.

This data brief based on The Commonwealth Fund 2001 International Health Policy Survey focuses on the health system views and experiences of New Zealanders. Comparative findings from the five-nation survey were reported in the May/June issue of Health Affairs. The data brief includes additional analysis of the survey that does not appear in the Health Affairs article.