After spending months in discussion on a business case for a sustainable workforce, money continues to be a stumbling block.
The boards' offer of a 12-month agreement from July with a salary increase of 1.7%, and removal of the first four steps of the salary scale was rejected in May.
The rejected offer would cost about $18 million across the country, but the association wanted $40 million spent this year and a total of $360 million spent over three years.
Now, the association has taken issue with a statement from DHBNZ employment relations strategy group chairman Graham Dyer, saying the increase in pay scales in the business case document would be equivalent to a more than 20% increase over three years.
Association executive director Ian Powell said the association had not made a salary claim and the only offer had been that made by the boards in May.
Mr Dyer said not accepting the pay scales was not because boards did not value senior medical specialists. It was simply unaffordable.
He disputed there was a health crisis caused by too few medical specialists.
District health boards had employed more than 500 extra doctors in the past three years, although not all of them were senior doctors.
Mr Powell said despite the loss of confidence in DHBNZ integrity, the association was determined to continue to negotiate, to report on the risks caused by the specialist workforce crisis, and to "prevent the DHBs from squirming out of the negotiations".
The senior doctors advised earlier in the year that if their agreement is not settled by a week before the general election, they may reconsider industrial action.
