Increasing the prescription price to fund other health services is a "questionable trade-off", a University of Otago public health specialist says.
In a press release, Prof Tony Blakely, of the Wellington campus, said increasing prescriptions from $3 to $5 would widen health inequalities by hitting the poorest in society.
The Government is using the price hike to fund better cancer services, diagnostic scans, more elective surgery and a heart patient register.
Prescriptions would still be free after the first 20 items (annually).
Prof Blakely said while the initiatives announced on Monday were worthy, the trade-off was probably not worthwhile.
The Government could have considered other areas to cut rather than prescription subsidies. This included cutting other parts of the primary health budget, which had had large increases in recent years.
"The Government is making clear trade-offs elsewhere, for example by continuing with tax cuts for the wealthy, not increasing the age of eligibility for superannuation, and not considering capital gains taxes. There are other ways of redistribution resources than using part charges," Prof Blakely said.
Otago Southland Cancer Society chief executive Mike Kernaghan labelled the $33 million extra for cancer services a "superb" move.
Cancer co-ordination nurses would provide a single point of contact for patients, making the system much easier to negotiate.
Also helping cancer patients was the promise of increased access to diagnostic scans, which helped them obtain quicker treatments, he said.
