Health makes up $1 in every $5 of the New Zealand government’s spending, but who really benefits?
The health budget for 2022-23 is roughly $30 billion, which equates to $5,855.74 for each of us.
This figure is up 84% from five years ago, although over the next five years it is expected to stay at about $27b.
Healthcare and social assistance as an industry was valued at $17b in the 12 months to March 2022, making it roughly on par with the primary industries sector or construction, according to Statistics New Zealand’s gross domestic product (GDP) figures.
So, who is making money out of health? That’s what we want to know.
Much has been written about the sector’s workforce – the nurses and doctors who keep the healthcare system ticking over.
This is important work, but BusinessDesk aspires to go deeper than that.
Over the next four months, we will have a special focus on the business of health.
We will look at the listed entities, the giant multinationals, the private-equity players and the mega charitable trusts which all have a stake in our healthcare system.
We want to apply our specialist knowledge and business insights into uncovering who the key players really are and what they are up to in Aotearoa.
This will include reporting on the top suppliers to the healthcare system, who made money out of covid-19, who owns our general practitioner networks, and more.
It will include understanding the operations of well-known brands like Chemist Warehouse and Tend, but also covering the uncovered firms within our system.
If you are a healthcare innovator or investor, we want to hear from you.
We’ve hired specialist health reporters Donna Chisholm and Cécile Meier to add expertise to our investigations unit.
Together, we hope to provide an unparalleled perspective into what really drives our healthcare system, and how these organisations are evolving.
This project is funded by NZ on Air, under the Public Interest Journalism Fund, and will be free to read.
Victoria Young
Investigations Editor
