Subsidised Care
Subsidy 'Stand Down' when Enrolling at a New Surgery
Subsidy 'stand down' refers to when you are not offered a subsidised fee from the day you enrol at a new GP surgery.
The Ministry of Health pay a part fee subsidy to make your health care cheaper - not your GP.
The Ministry will pay your subsidy to only one GP at a time.
The Ministry currently updates government subsidy changes only four times a year – the 1st Jan, April, July and October - regardless of when you change your GP. This means that GPs can wait between one to four months from the date you enrol until they start to receive a subsidy payment from the Ministry.
Most GPs are unwilling to subsidise your care before starting to receive payment from the Ministry.
Many GPs believe that the current funding places them in the position of holding the risk for the health system when people change where they receive their care.
There is also a business risk that, having subsidised a patient by lowering fees before the Ministry pays the subsidy to the practice, that patient may re-enrol at yet another practice who then receives the subsidy payment instead.
There are generally two forms of subsidy 'stand down' practice policy: those that 'stand down' newly enrolled people for one or two visits then offer subsidised fees and those that offer subsidised fees only when they have received payment from the Ministry. You should enquire about this at your new practice as you enrol.
Options to minimise subsidy 'stand down':
If you are considering enrolling with a new GP at a different surgery and have not yet moved:
- Before deciding where upon your new surgery, ask about their subsidy 'stand down' policy, i.e. when you will receive subsidised fees. Try and discuss with the GP or Practice Manager. You are free to choose to enrol elsewhere.
- If circumstances permit, 'time' your transfer to minimise the 'stand down' period, e.g. enrol at the new surgery just before the quarterly submission, (last week in Feb, May, Sep, and mid Nov). Your new surgery will receive your subsidy a month later (Apr, Jul, Oct and Jan).
If you have already enrolled:
- Discuss your options with your new GP.
If circumstances permit, continue to visit your old GP for the remainder of the 'stand down' period. Again, you may need to discuss this with your old GP first, because although they will still receive your subsidy until the end of the quarter (Mar, Jun, Sep or Dec), the surgery may have 'transferred' you on their system, along with your patient notes. Do not re-enrol at your old practice. Make sure that it is clear that this is a temporary arrangement.
