Type 1 Considering moving to New Zealand

[CFitzgerald]

Quite a niche question! However I was wondering if anyone knew of the ins and outs related to getting Type 1 diabetes supplies in New Zealand? As am strong considering a move there.
Thanks!

 

[EllieM]

What kind of supplies? I have found the diabetic care pretty good with a couple of provisos

1) With a population of only 5 million state funded medical supplies tend to be quite restrictive eg blood testing meters are restricted to caresens, though you can have as many strips as you want/need (including blood ketone testing strips).
2) Lantus is the only long acting basal available
3) But my consultant keeps offering me a pump....
4) Both dexcom and libre are available, but you'll have to self fund. Likewise, there's nothing to stop you buying strips for your favourite glucometer, but you'll probably have to import them from overseas.

There's a small fee for an appointment with a GP but hospital diabetes care is free (I get an annual visit to consultant, DN and dietician and have a number to phone the DN for queries). My GP would also do an annual check if I wanted one, and I get plenty of hba1c checks.
Likewise there is a prescription fee (with a yearly cap) based on number of items ordered, not cost of said items, so your diabetes is funded by the state, you just don't qualify for free prescriptions like the UK.

Home - PHARMAC | New Zealand Government

is the list of what medicines the NZ government will pay for (and what is available in the country). They do gradually add more items, but it's a very slow process.

You'll want to register with a GP, which is fine if you're planning to be resident in NZ. (When my father visits from the UK I talk him to a drop in clinic attached to the local hospital for care and scripts, as he's not eligible to sign up with a GP. But they charge $50 a visit.)

It's a lovely country, though you'll have to wait a while before travelling here (I doubt they'll be opening the borders to the UK till the end of 2021.) At the moment all international travelers have to quarantine in government policed hotels for 2 weeks and the number of spaces is very limited, we haven't seen our adult children (who live in Sydney) since last Christmas and will be spending our first Christmas apart from them this year.

I've lived in the UK and Australia before moving here in 2017, and I'm happy with the diabetes care, though I would prefer it if pharmac had a wider range of diabetic supplies.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

A poster on another forum was concerned that an application to immigrate might fall foul of the long term expenditure cap due to the cost of medications.

 

[CFitzgerald]

What kind of supplies? I have found the diabetic care pretty good with a couple of provisos

1) With a population of only 5 million state funded medical supplies tend to be quite restrictive eg blood testing meters are restricted to caresens, though you can have as many strips as you want/need (including blood ketone testing strips).
2) Lantus is the only long acting basal available
3) But my consultant keeps offering me a pump....
4) Both dexcom and libre are available, but you'll have to self fund. Likewise, there's nothing to stop you buying strips for your favourite glucometer, but you'll probably have to import them from overseas.

There's a small fee for an appointment with a GP but hospital diabetes care is free (I get an annual visit to consultant, DN and dietician and have a number to phone the DN for queries). My GP would also do an annual check if I wanted one, and I get plenty of hba1c checks.
Likewise there is a prescription fee (with a yearly cap) based on number of items ordered, not cost of said items, so your diabetes is funded by the state, you just don't qualify for free prescriptions like the UK.

Home - PHARMAC | New Zealand Government

is the list of what medicines the NZ government will pay for (and what is available in the country). They do gradually add more items, but it's a very slow process.

You'll want to register with a GP, which is fine if you're planning to be resident in NZ. (When my father visits from the UK I talk him to a drop in clinic attached to the local hospital for care and scripts, as he's not eligible to sign up with a GP. But they charge $50 a visit.)

It's a lovely country, though you'll have to wait a while before travelling here (I doubt they'll be opening the borders to the UK till the end of 2021.) At the moment all international travelers have to quarantine in government policed hotels for 2 weeks and the number of spaces is very limited, we haven't seen our adult children (who live in Sydney) since last Christmas and will be spending our first Christmas apart from them this year.

I've lived in the UK and Australia before moving here in 2017, and I'm happy with the diabetes care, though I would prefer it if pharmac had a wider range of diabetic supplies.

This is so helpful! Thank you! And noted re not getting there anytime soon just wanted to investigate the practicalities before getting my hopes up and starting to look too seriously. Sometimes the diabetes makes me feel I cannot have the same living abroad opportunities as others without lots of stress :-(

 

[EllieM]

A poster on another forum was concerned that an application to immigrate might fall foul of the long term expenditure cap due to the cost of medications.

That's an interesting point. I got away without any health check to become resident in NZ because I am an Australian citizen. I did have to have health checks to become a permanent resident of Australia (which then qualified me for citizenship) but the only extra one I got because of my diabetes was a complicated heart check.

Australia (and from the look of it NZ too) seem obsessed with giving everyone chest xrays for TB (really annoying when you have to have an additional one even though you've been in the relevant country since your last chest xray) and I think I may have had to have an hiv test....

So I can confirm that Australia lets T1s in, not sure about NZ ....

 

[NatalieB91]

Quite a niche question! However I was wondering if anyone knew of the ins and outs related to getting Type 1 diabetes supplies in New Zealand? As am strong considering a move there.
Thanks!

Hi!
Can I ask, did you ever migrate to New Zealand? In a similar position and wondering the same thing about healthcare and supplies once over there?
Thanks
Natalie

 

[Rachael T]

Interested if anyone has any further info about T1D management in NZ as we’re just starting the visa application process. I’m concerned that I’ll have to change my insulin and revert back to injections as Omnipod isn’t available in NZ, and neither is Fiasp (or Levemir). I’d need to sort this out prior to moving so I am used to things before travelling and starting a new job.
CGM isn’t funded, so would cost approx $125 per libre sensor. Don’t think I’d be able to go back to blood testing, so will just have to pay for Libre’s.
Any advice?