title: Building on myths: an economist's response to the Ministerial Review Group Report on the health system.
abstract: The (2009) Report of the Ministerial Review Group (MRG) recommends a number of useful measures to enhance the New Zealand health system such as reducing the number of primary health organisations (PHOs). However, the report's warnings about the "unsustainability" of the current publicly funded health system are overstated. I argue that the logic for the creation of new agencies and the break-up of the functions of the Ministry of Health has not been clearly articulated. Restructuring is an extremely expensive exercise--and should only be done when there is a compelling logic to the new structure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. r.vaithianathan@auckland.ac.nz
authors.forename: Rhema
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vaithianathan
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics*; D033161:Government Regulation; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D009520:New Zealand; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000191:economics*