Quote Originally Posted by Ocean1 View Post
......In theory health funding policy is driven by an ethically sound decision making process. It's based on the concept of gaining the maximum quality of life for the maximum time for each specific health procedure or intervention. There’s actually a unit used for such calculations called a “qually” (sp?) Procedures which produce the best return for the budget dollar are funded first, those which produce less beneficial or lasting returns come further down the list......
Sorry sort of but this is exactly the same type of system used to determine the priority of roading projects. In the health system it sounds really cold and calculated but Benefit Cost Ratios (BCR's) make logical sense (well to me anyway). I know the system is screwed with by pollies etc but BCRs provide some degree of fairness to the system.

The down fall (and I'll give a roading example cause thats what I do) is that even if a project provides huge amounts of benefits the i.e. a massive improvement to the Auckland motorway system if the BCR is low because the costs are extremely high the project will be put down the list. You can very easily end up in the situation where there roads are severely congested hence there is a real need for something to be done but the costs of something just cant be economically justified. In the roading case there have been steps taken to "try" and account for other factors such as the extreme need for something to be done - Auckland again (I'm a cantab by the way).

I can only hope that the health system has some means of addressing issues like this i.e. your case Janno. My only little bit of advise is to very clearly and concisely point out the economics of the situation. For good and bad, money is the key to changing decisions such as yours. Point out the very high cost to the system for not havening the drugs (DHB costs and other costs to the country i.e benefits etc) in addition to pointing out the cost to your well being and family. The more evidence you have the better i.e. get as much data from your Ausi docs as possible.

Sorry I'm of no real help, but best of luck getting this sorted.
Cheers R