ACC welcomes independent review as levy changes confirmed

Each year, ACC spends $7 billion on health care and weekly compensation to support the two million injury claims we receive.   

ACC Chief Executive Megan Main says more people are receiving weekly compensation and remaining on the scheme for a longer period with non-serious injuries, while the cost of the rehabilitation and care services ACC buys has risen significantly.

However, levies and funding of the scheme have not kept pace with these increases, meaning ACC spends around $2 billion more than we collect each year.
 
Rehabilitation performance – how quickly people recover from an injury and get back to independence – has also declined.   

“The scope, cover and cost of the ACC scheme also continues to grow due to recent court cases and policy decisions, and we are also required to account for the lifetime costs of injuries that have already occurred,” Megan says.  

“Health and social insurance schemes internationally are facing similar challenges in balancing scheme boundaries, rising healthcare costs and funding. 

“The decision by Cabinet to increase levies will go some way to alleviating the pressure and ensuring the scheme is sustainable for future generations. However, improving rehabilitation performance is a priority for ACC. 
 
“We have intensified our efforts on the things we can do to improve client rehabilitation performance in the short term and are seeing positive green shoots from this work – but the impact of this will take time. 
  
“We support the Government’s review to ensure what we are doing will help injured people get better faster.

“We hope any findings will further help us improve our rehabilitation performance and assist us in ensuring the long-term sustainability of the ACC scheme.”  

The Government’s approved changes to ACC's levy rates and the levy system are available on our website.

Levy results