A booklet spelling out how to charge tourists for medical care, after one visitor was wrongly charged nearly twice the standard casual rate, should be released next week.
The New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA) is preparing the booklet after reports an English tourist was charged $150 instead of $82 for a visit to a GP in Queenstown.
New Zealand has reciprocal health arrangements with the UK and Australia for public funding of medical visits, which meant a UK visitor should only have been charged the same amount as an non-enrolled New Zealander.
NZMA communications manager Daphne Atkinson said the booklet would simplify the "convoluted and bureaucratic" Ministry of Health rules for medical professionals.
The booklet would be distributed to the NZMA's 4000 or so members and also be available on its website.
Mrs Atkinson was not able to say how common it was for eligible patients to be overcharged.
