There will be a lot more money for disability tomorrow but it will probably most be for getting the new Ministry for Disabled People running, and rolling out better disability support services. There was a huge shortfall in disability support funding inherited from the last government which had to be paid for in the last couple of Budgets just to fund at a basic level. There is also a hint that DHB debt (a huge amount) will be written off in order to set up the new health system, and there will be funding for increases for health workers' pay, primary care, and mental health support. All this Budget funding will help disabled people. There will likely also be an increase in Pharmac funding, as there has been for the last 4 years, but, unfortunately, I doubt it will be as much as many people would like.
Pharmac so badly needs an increase in funding. For all of those drugs and items, and so many more. My work involves seeing a lot of people with cancer, and for so many there are medicines that would prolong their lives, if not save them, and the cost is tens of thousands of dollars. Out of reach of the majority!
I have a close family member who gets the Supported Living Benefit. I recently checked back on the records and it has gone up about $100 over the term of this Government and that does not include the Winter Energy Payment from may to October. It has also been much easier to engage with Work and Income. He now has new and innovative disability support for independent living (based on Enabling Good Lives principles) and also had a lot of help seeking part time employment though some new targeted disability employment funding from MSD, and the amount a person can earn before the benefit gets cut has gone up. He travels by public transport which has now got cheaper. Just one person, but there have been some positive incremental changes, although nothing that makes headlines.
There will be a lot more money for disability tomorrow but it will probably most be for getting the new Ministry for Disabled People running, and rolling out better disability support services. There was a huge shortfall in disability support funding inherited from the last government which had to be paid for in the last couple of Budgets just to fund at a basic level. There is also a hint that DHB debt (a huge amount) will be written off in order to set up the new health system, and there will be funding for increases for health workers' pay, primary care, and mental health support. All this Budget funding will help disabled people. There will likely also be an increase in Pharmac funding, as there has been for the last 4 years, but, unfortunately, I doubt it will be as much as many people would like.
Pharmac so badly needs an increase in funding. For all of those drugs and items, and so many more. My work involves seeing a lot of people with cancer, and for so many there are medicines that would prolong their lives, if not save them, and the cost is tens of thousands of dollars. Out of reach of the majority!
I have a close family member who gets the Supported Living Benefit. I recently checked back on the records and it has gone up about $100 over the term of this Government and that does not include the Winter Energy Payment from may to October. It has also been much easier to engage with Work and Income. He now has new and innovative disability support for independent living (based on Enabling Good Lives principles) and also had a lot of help seeking part time employment though some new targeted disability employment funding from MSD, and the amount a person can earn before the benefit gets cut has gone up. He travels by public transport which has now got cheaper. Just one person, but there have been some positive incremental changes, although nothing that makes headlines.
I love your wero to the PM 🪶 Tautoko i tēnei whakaaro!
I think we have to have hope. I'm not sure how we maintain that while also being repeatedly braced for disappointment
Really hoping for good outcomes for your whānau and everybody else who needs access to lifesaving medicine. Xx