Powel Crosley, whose 59-year-old wife Sladjana (also known as Sofi) died last April, said the most important consideration in the argument should be what was in the best interests of the patient.
• Patients paying for drugs
He appreciated that offering public hospital patients the opportunity to pay for unfunded treatments would have an impact on resources, but resources could always be increased.
New treatments for rare conditions could fall through the cracks of the existing public system.
It had been very stressful for his wife to change clinicians and to have more than one specialist involved with her care, and as caregiver he would also have found it "enormously beneficial" for his wife to have remained under the care of oncologist Dr Blair McLaren in Dunedin.
During her various treatments in Auckland, Mrs Crosley moved in and out of the public health system.
In one instance, she was receiving an unfunded drug in the public setting because it had been gifted by the drug company.
There were ways to get around some aspects of the existing system but "why should you have to play games?" he asked.
Mr Crosley said those who expressed concerns about the suggestion of people paying for unfunded treatments in public, leading to a two-tier system, needed to realise the system was already two-tiered.
He did not want his comments to be seen as critical of the treatment his wife received in the public system, which had been excellent.
Mrs Crosley had a rare ovarian cancer known as granulosa cell tumour (GCT) first diagnosed in 1996, when she was 46 and living in the United States.
The mother of two daughters, originally from Serbia, was a chemical engineer in Tennessee, leading nationwide research into treatment technologies for hazardous waste.
The couple moved to Dunedin in 1997, where they ran a software consulting business, Crosley Consultants, but in 1999 found Mrs Crosley's cancer had returned and she had surgery in Christchurch.
The type of cancer did not respond to the publicly funded treatment for ovarian cancer and other treatments were not available in Dunedin, so in 2003 the couple reluctantly moved to Auckland.
They also pursued new "more targeted" drug treatments in Australia and the United States.
If public patients were able to pay for unfunded drugs, they could receive their treatment closer to home and lessen the emotional and financial stress, Mr Crosley said.
His wife always felt guilty and was frequently apologising for the thousands of dollars the couple spent on travel and treatments.
The Crosleys set up the Granulosa Cell Tumour Foundation New Zealand in 2004 to provide women with information about the disease and to raise money to support research.
