Government freezes GP fees from July 1 in proposed Health NZ deal
Friday, 5 June 2026
GP fees could be frozen from July 1 under a proposed Health NZ shake-up to the funding system that would leave some practices better off and others worse off.
The current capitation system is seeing a major overhaul, as GPs who previously received funding based on the number, age and gender of patients enrolled with them will now see deprivation, rurality and multi-morbidity accounted for.
Documents seen by The Post reveal funding for GPs will increase by $76.2 million, or 6%, as part of a $120.6m package to primary health. The funding comes out of the $1.37 billion annual uplift to Health NZ announced in this year’s Budget.
The funding - subject to final consultation with contracted providers, PHOs and Te Kāhui Hauora Māori PHOs - is expected to be finalised in two weeks’ time.
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A stable fees policy will be introduced to support affordable and accessible doctor visits, meaning patients will not see any increase in their doctor’s visit fee.
An overall 6% capitation increase is intended to stabilise fee increases, with 3.16% of that ‒ $45.8m ‒ accounting for the annual capitation uplift typically provided to general practices to recognise cost pressures, while 2.84% ‒ $30.4m ‒ covering the fees freeze and capitation reweight.
Just how much GPs receive will vary practice to practice, as each will have individually calculated capitation payments based on these factors.
The document states the capitation and rural funding reweighting will result in additional revenue for some practices and reduced revenue for others.
Dr Luke Bradford, president of The Royal NZ College of General Practitioners, said while the uplift was positive for most practices, not all would receive adequate compensation.
The college recognised the merit in the freeze, saying many people were struggling to see their doctor, but the capitation increase fell short of what general practices had been seeking.
“It’s still not where we need to get as a sector, but as an acknowledgement that the public is struggling with costs of living and the fuel crisis, it does help with our patients being able to afford to see us.”
He said the level of funding meant GP practices would continue to struggle with poor recruitment into primary care.
He said the funding uplift was largely in line with previous years. GPs had been consistently underfunded for the past two decades, with paid capitation funding kept below the rate of inflation in 19 of its 21 years.
Health Minister Simeon Brown welcomed the in-principle agreement between Health NZ and the primary care sector, and said the greatest challenge for patients was simply being able to get a timely GP appointment.
He said the priorities of the proposed package were to make it easier to get a GP appointment and to keep GP visit costs stable for patients at last year’s levels.
Updating the way GP clinics were funded for the first time in more than 20 years would see clinics serving patients with greater health needs receive increased funding, including rural clinics.
GP clinics that achieved improved outcomes in areas such as immunisation, cancer screening and the management of long-term health conditions would be rewarded he said.
Labour health spokesperson Dr Ayesha Verrall said the funding offer failed to lower the cost of seeing a doctor ”at a time when 650,000 New Zealanders are missing out because of cost“.
Brown announced the plan to reweight capitation last year.
Rachel Pearce, Health NZ’s acting director of Living Well, previously told The Post the current funding formula was outdated and no longer reflected the complexity of people’s health needs or the challenges faced by practices serving high-need communities.
The factors did not include ethnicity, which Bradford said should be incorporated.
Other investments include a 3.2% increase to rural practices to recognise the ongoing sustainability challenges to rural practices, costing $900,000.
Additional funding will see Very Low Cost Access (VLCA) practices see a 4% boost, while non-VLCA practices will increase their funding by at least 4.46%.
It also includes $4.8m into CarePlus, SIA and Health Promotion flexible funding, $1.9m to increase immunisation fees by 3.16% and an additional $10m for performance-based funding for general practice.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said funding for GPs will increase by $72.6 million. It will be $76.2 million. (Amended June 6, 2026 at 4.50pm)