What Health Issues Can Affect Your Application?
Health issues that pose a high cost on the New Zealand health system can affect your application. High cost is defined as NZ$41,000 in total for all your health issues, which is low.
Presumption of high cost for some serious health issues
First, check if your health issue is on this list of serious health issues that are presumed to be high cost.
Hepatitis B-surface antigen positive and meeting criteria for anti-viral treatment in New Zealand
Hepatitis C-RNA positive and meeting criteria for anti-viral treatment in New Zealand
Malignancies of organs, skin (such as melanoma) and haematopoietic tissue, including past history of, or currently under treatment. Exceptions are:
treated minor skin malignancies
malignancies where the interval since treatment is such that the probability of recurrence is <10 percent
Requirement for organ transplants (with the exclusion of corneal grafts), or following organ transplant when immune suppression is required (with the exclusion of corneal grafts)
Severe, chronic or progressive renal or hepatic disorders
Musculoskeletal diseases or disorders such as osteoarthritis with a high probability of surgery in the next five years
Severe, chronic or progressive neurological disorders, including but not exclusive to:
any dementia including Alzheimer's disease
poorly controlled epilepsy
complex seizure disorder
cerebrovascular disease
cerebral palsy
paraplegia, quadriplegia
poliomyelitis
Parkinson’s disease
motor neurone disease, Huntington’s disease, muscular dystrophy
prion disease
relapsing and/or progressive multiple sclerosis
Cardiac diseases, including but not exclusive to:
severe ischaemic heart disease
cardiomyopathy
valve disease with a high probability of surgical and/or other procedural intervention in the next five years
aortic aneurysm with a high probability of surgical and/or other procedural intervention in the next five years
Chronic respiratory disease, including but not exclusive to:
severe and/or progressive restrictive (including interstitial) lung disease
severe and/or progressive obstructive lung disease
cystic fibrosis
Significant or disabling hereditary disorders, including but not exclusive to:
hereditary anaemias and coagulation disorders
primary immuno-deficiencies
Gaucher’s disease
Severe autoimmune disease which may require treatment in New Zealand with immune-suppressant medications other than Prednisone, Methotrexate, Azathioprine or Salazopyrin
Severe (71-90 decibels) hearing loss or profound bilateral sensori-neural hearing loss after best possible correction at country of origin, where significant support is required, including cochlear implants
Severe vision impairment with visual acuity of 6/36 or beyond after best possible correction at country of origin, or a loss restricting the field of vision to 15-20 degrees where significant support is required
Severe developmental disorders or severe cognitive impairments where significant support is required, including but not exclusive to:
physical disability
intellectual disability
autistic spectrum disorders
brain injury
Major psychiatric illness and/or addiction including any psychiatric condition that has required hospitalisation and/or where significant support is required
Those with a history, diagnostic findings or treatment for MDR-TB or XDR-TB, unless they have been cleared by a New Zealand Respiratory or Infectious Diseases specialist upon review of their file or review of the applicant according to the New Zealand Guidelines for Tuberculosis Treatment
If you have a health issue that is on the list, consider getting expert help. We can connect you to one instantly.
Health issue not on ‘high cost’ list
If you have a health issue but it's not on the list, you'll need to do a bit more work to figure out if it's going to cost more or less than NZ$41,000.
Step 1: Is your condition short-term or ongoing?
Step 2: Research the costs
Short-term - How much it costs to treat your condition in New Zealand. Alternatively, you can consider receiving treatment before you apply for residence.
Ongoing - How much it costs per year to treat your ongoing condition in New Zealand, including the unsubsidised cost of any medication you'll be needing.
Step 3 (ongoing only): Multiply the cost per year by your remaining life expectancy, taking into account your condition.
TIP: Use New Zealand-specific data to get the best idea of the cost of treatment for your condition here.
If you're unsure at any point, don't be afraid to reach out for advice.
