Policy - Accident Compensation
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Compare Policies on Accident Compensation (National vs Labour vs
Greens vs Maori vs Act).
Link | National | Labour | Greens | Maori | Act |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last update | Sep. 5th 2011 2:10:47 PM | Sep. 5th 2011 2:00:23 PM | Sep. 5th 2011 2:00:23 PM | Sep. 5th 2011 2:10:47 PM | Sep. 5th 2011 2:00:23 PM |
| Video Policy | |||||
| Goal or Vision | Labour is firmly committed to keeping ACC in public ownership and we will continue to improve it. ACC belongs to New Zealanders and every Kiwi is a shareholder. | The Green Party envisions a holistic social security, health and disability system, focused on promoting good health, reducing the risk and impact of illness and injury, and improving the quality of life. | All New Zealanders are in a position to take out risk insurance for accident, sickness and healthcare, not just the wealthy, and to receive better service as a result. | ||
| Policy Principles | |||||
| Principle 1 | ACC – Everybody is Covered | Equitable rehabilitation for all people suffering impairment caused by injury, illness or other disability. | The social welfare system should be removed (as far as possible) from day-to-day political decision making. This is vital. Until this happens, the well-organised special interest groups will continue to do great harm to the rest of us. | ||
| Principle 2 | Retaining ACC in Public Hands - Keeping it Kiwi | The retention of public provision of rehabilitation and compensation for personal injury, funded through an equitable mix of levies on employers, employees, motor vehicle usage and general taxation. | Transfer power from large institutions (Accident Compensation Corporation) and impersonal bureaucracies (Health, Education and Social Welfare Departments) to individuals. Such institutions will never care about us or know as much about us as we do – we need to remove their decision-making power from them as it affects individuals. | ||
| Principle 3 | Ensuring New Zealanders pay fair and reasonable levies | The Green Party believes that rehabilitation to the greatest extent practicable, rather than theoretical work capacity, ought to be the main focus of ACC. | Restore the buyer/seller relationship to consumers and providers3 So that each of us as consumers becomes the principal buyer of welfare services, rather than third parties, be they welfare, superannuation, health or education, as we do with other goods and services | ||
| Principle 4 | Extending and Improving ACC | Subject social welfare to the benefits of competition. Create market-based organisations where each of us benefits from good decisions or bears the cost of bad ones (note: none could be as bad as that which government inflicts on us all at the moment) | |||
| Principle 5 | Injury Prevention | Create a marketplace where individuals (as much as possible) spend their own money, rather than someone else's. Major tax reductions and, for some, tax credits will enable all New Zealanders to buy what they need in the market. When people spend their own money rather than someone else's, they demand better service and higher standards | |||
| Policy Details | |||||
| Detail 1 | Labour will continue to maintain ACC as a publicly administered and delivered social insurance scheme which focuses on injury prevention, along with fair and effective treatment and rehabilitation. | The Green Party will: Ensure that all people who have a genuine work-related gradual process injury, disease or infection, including occupational overuse injuries and chemical poisoning, can obtain ACC cover. | All New Zealanders will have the choice of buying the welfare products they need in a competitive open marketplace (health cover, sickness, accident and health insurance) as a result of: higher personal income via Tax reductions (flowing from the ability to earn a tax fee income and/or tax credits) plus an employer contribution | ||
| Detail 2 | Labour will introduce an immediate law change to extend the 2014 fully funded target to 2019 for the Residual Claims accounts to reduce pressure on New Zealanders’ levy payments. | The Green Party will: Ensure that all people who receive unexpected and unintended injuries as a consequence of medical treatment can access ACC cover. | Insurance companies will be obliged to provide information relating to prices and costs, people can elect to rely on self-insurance for small items of expenditure. | ||
| Detail 3 | Labour will review ACC’s coverage of work-related pain disorders. | The Green Party will: Restore cover to people who suffer only mental injury caused by accident, treatment by registered health professionals, or work-related gradual process injury, disease or infection. | Consumers spending their own money will lead to lower levels of demand than under the current welfare system with self-insurance evident for non-catastrophic events. | ||
| Detail 4 | Labour will ensure ACC reduces the time taken to make a decision about Earnings Related Compensation in marginal cases. | The Green Party will: Ensure that adequate and appropriate social and vocational rehabilitation is provided. | Pressure to reduce costs will be evident throughout the system so higher incomes for suppliers will depend on them being more efficient than other providers. Under the current system, providers often increase their own incomes only when costs go up. | ||
| Detail 5 | Labour will improve the Accredited Employers' Scheme to ensure it is fairer for injured workers in light of Council of Trade Unions and Business NZ recommendations. | The Green Party will: Introduce a regime under which weekly compensation is treated no differently from other income for benefit abatement purposes. | Choice for the vast majority of the population will be readily available, unlike the current welfare system, when most people, having paid 40% or more of their income in taxes can't afford alternative private options for healthcare or sickness or to save for their retirement. This is now possible for all New Zealanders. | ||
| Detail 6 | Labour will complete the implementation of the non-fiscal recommendations of the Goddard Report on Physiotherapists and move towards an agreed sustainable funding model for the future. | The Green Party will: Take into account seasonal workers and people in temporary employment in the formula setting the level of weekly compensation | Innovation will be seen everywhere and is one of the only ways a company can stay ahead. | ||
| Detail 7 | Labour will build on the success of the New Zealand Injury Prevention Strategy to ensure ACC has a leadership and coordinating role in its implementation and will work to improve further New Zealand’s injury prevention record. | The Green Party will: Adequately fund independent advocacy agencies for people who are injured. | Currently, the government welfare, education and healthcare industry are often hostile to change and discourage development and innovation. | ||
| Detail 8 | Labour will strengthen workplace injury prevention initiatives through industry taskforces to increase the skill levels and number of trained Health and Safety Representatives (currently 20,000). | The Green Party will: Create an ACC ombusdman to take over the functions of the ACC Complaints Investigation Service. | Prices will be readily available and producers will advertise price discounts and quality differences. This is not so with the current government welfare system. | ||
| Detail 9 | Quality of service comparisons will be readily available for everyone with regard to the various companies offering products in the marketplace. | ||||
| MP to Contact | Kevin Hague | ||||
| Source and Link to Policy Documentation | greens.org.nz/... | act.org.nz/... | |||
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