Figuring the figures: Breaking down the Vote Health numbers

Vote Health for 2022/23 looks different from usual. The reason is the move that began last year to multi-year budgets in health, with the initial step being into a two-year cycle. Consequently, if you’re looking for most of the new, shiny stuff, dust off Budget 2022. That said, prime minister Chris Hipkins was keen to share the Budget 2023 limelight with his health minister, Ayesha Verrall, in announcing the imminent abolition of the $5 prescription charge, which forms part of the Government’s latest cost-of-living package. On Budget day, 18 May, the estimate for Vote Health was up from Budget day last year, but down from the ‘estimated actual’ figure for the current financial year, $27.253 billion