New ACC service and purchase agreement a reasonable start

A press release from the ACC Futures Coalition

The ACC Futures Coalition has welcomed the new ACC Service and Purchase Agreement, saying that it represents a reasonable start to the rebuilding process for ACC but pointing out that there is much to be done and also areas that the new agreement does not address.
“We think that the Minister has set out some good first steps,” said ACC Futures Coalition spokesperson Hazel Armstrong. “They should go a long way towards strengthening ACC as a public institution for the coming year. We welcome the emphasis on rebuilding public trust and confidence in ACC, but trust takes a long time to build and, as the corporation has just found out, can evaporate rather quickly. There is a strong focus on better service, which is important on a day-to-day basis, but better outcomes over a long period of time will be required to turnaround public perceptions.”
“We are not convinced that this document will deliver that on its own. For example, there is nothing in here on the need to use independent medical assessors and the emphasis is still on getting people off the scheme using vocational independence rather than a genuine return to work. Both these factors have contributed to claimant disillusionment with the scheme and need to be addressed.”
“The Agreement still also reflects the government’s commitment to full funding and has artificially high asset targets for the work and earners accounts, both of which will contribute to higher levies,” said Ms. Armstrong.
“However, there are other aspects that we see as very positive, including the commitment to more timely resolution of disputes and greater use of mediation without going to review. We welcome both of these moves.”
“The next challenge for the Minister will come when she decides on the replacements for the board members who have gone, because it is the board that will have to interpret the agreement and ensure that it is applied. Will she appoint a board that reflects the broad range of stakeholders and interests in ACC or will she stick with those who understand the money side but not ‘the broader responsibilities ACC has to all New Zealanders’ as the Minister’s press release put it? The initial response of Paula Rebstock today on Radio Live was not encouraging. All she seemed to want to focus on was the privacy question when the issues facing ACC go much deeper. We await the next steps with interest,” said Ms. Armstrong.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1206/S00399/new-acc-service-and-purchase-agreement-a-reasonable-start.htm

ACC shows kinder face, cuts back-to-work goals

An article from the New Zealand Herald by Adam Bennett

ACC is to soften its drive to get long-term claimants back into work in the face of concerns it is pushing clients off its books before they are properly rehabilitated.
The corporation yesterday published its Service and Purchase Agreement for the 2012-15 period in which it sets out its targets and priorities. Improving "trust and confidence" was the corporation's number one priority in the agreement, replacing "cost containment" which was top of the list last year. Its second priority in this year's agreement is "improved management and security of private information".
Since March, the corporation has grappled with a massive privacy breach and ensuing scandal, a failed attempt to prosecute claimant and former National Party insider Bronwyn Pullar for blackmail, and an increasing spotlight on its controversial strategy to bolster its financial sustainability by moving costly long-term claimants off its books. That came top of a series of articles in the Herald highlighting ACC's tougher approach to elective surgery claims.
Figures obtained by the Herald last week showed the corporation cut the number of long-term claimants receiving weekly compensation by 3644 or 25 per cent to 10,773 in the three years since June 2009.
That was well ahead of targets. Last week ACC said its target for the 2012-13 year was a reduction of 253. In the agreement published yesterday that target was reduced to 200.
Acting ACC chairwoman Paula Rebstock said that as the number of long-term claimants declined, so did the targets for reducing that tally further.
She acknowledged "there was some discussion" about having the target slightly higher for the coming year, "but the board took the view that given the new priorities and the focus on addressing some of these other issues, that target would have to be slightly lower and we lowered it".
Those priorities and issues were spelled out clearly in ACC Minister Judith Collins' "letter of expectations" to former chairman John Judge in April which was also released yesterday.
While she said the corporation had done well managing its finances, the board had a broader set of responsibilities including "ensuring entitlements are delivered fairly and transparently to all New Zealanders".
"While the gains made by ACC over the past year are very pleasing, I am aware that the initiatives taken by the board to raise performance of ACC have had many and varied impacts on claimants, health providers, and other stakeholders" she went on to say. "ACC and the way it delivers services are now seen by many in a new light ... Recent events have not helped the public image of the corporation."
Greens ACC spokesman Kevin Hague said the new agreement was encouraging.
"I'd been looking at this document as a litmus test for whether Ms Collins' language about a culture change should be assumed to be empty rhetoric or whether it's likely to have substance, and very clearly in her letter of expectations and in the agreement ... she's actually followed through so far."
Claimants advocacy group the ACC Futures Coalition said Ms Collins had set out some good first steps.
"They should go a long way towards strengthening ACC as a public institution for the coming year" said spokeswoman Hazel Armstrong. "We welcome the emphasis on rebuilding public trust and confidence in ACC, but trust takes a long time to build and, as the corporation has just found out, can evaporate rather quickly."
However, the agreement said nothing about the need for ACC to use truly independent medical assessors and it still emphasised getting people off the scheme using "vocational independence".
"Both these factors have contributed to claimant disillusionment with the scheme and need to be addressed."

ACC'S TARGETS
For culling long term claimants:
* 2009-10: 100
* 2010-11: 1150
* 2011-12: 406
* 2012-13: 200
* 2013-14: 89
* 2014-15: 50

© 2012 APN Holdings NZ Ltd

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10816237

ACC confirms testing for claimants

An article from the Dominion Post by Vernon Small

ACC's methods are again under the spotlight after it confirmed using "neuropsychological and psychological assessments" to help decide if claimants were being straightforward. That came to light yesterday after claims it uses "lie detector tests" to see if claimants are telling the truth.
Claimant Margaret Read told Radio New Zealand that ACC would not believe her statements of brain and spinal injuries, nor evidence from specialists, and applied a lie detector test.
An ACC spokeswoman declined to comment on an individual case, but said the no-fault insurer did not use lie detector tests.
Asked if any of its processes could be interpreted as a lie detector test, she said that was subjective. "What seems to be being referred to is the use of measures in neuropsychological and psychological assessments to provide some indication as to whether the client is presenting in a straightforward manner; that is, not under- or over-reporting their symptoms," she said.
"Neuropsychological assessments administer tests which look at the client's cognitive functioning (thinking functions such as language, attention, speed of thinking, memory, flexibility in thinking and problem solving skills)."
They were used to help indicate whether "clients are either minimising or exaggerating their emotional symptoms such as anxiety and depressive symptoms". This was also to determine whether the assessment results truly reflected a client's current emotional functioning.
When a client displayed evidence of a lack of effort, under-reporting or exaggeration of symptoms, ACC would try to determine why "and then provide the appropriate help the client needs to progress in their rehabilitation".
Labour ACC spokesman Andrew Little said he was "gob-smacked" by the practice, which was evidence of the distrust ACC had for claimants. "It sounds like lie-detecting to me."
Claimants' medical state was what mattered, not their personality. "They seem to be using criteria other than `is this person injured as a result of an accident?'."
Ms Read said she was asked to take a lie detector test to prove she did have spinal and brain injuries, which she passed. ACC still did not believe her and she took her battle to the courts.
"You feel absolutely shattered into tiny pieces, you keep saying `but I'm the person who's injured – why do I feel I'm being punished, why am I being bullied'."
ACC later backed down, and awarded Ms Read compensation. Taking the lie detector test had made her feel like a criminal, she said.
Lawyer John Miller, who specialises in ACC cases, said he was not aware of anyone undergoing lie detector tests at ACC. But part of the problem was that it was like an insurance company, asking so many questions people felt they were suspected of making things up, he said.
The attitude from ACC was that it was trying to minimise people's entitlements, rather than help them. "It's terrible if you're injured being at the mercy of some claims officer's views of you," he said.
ACC dealt quickly and efficiently with most people, but his clients were those at the hard end of the spectrum. "The more difficult claimants find they are treated badly by ACC and are perceived as exaggerating."
People viewed health problems they could not see with suspicion, and ACC claims officers were no different, he said.
An independent report into ACC privacy and security practices, sparked by the leak of confidential information to whistleblower Bronwyn Pullar, has been put back by two months. The inquiry, commissioned by the Privacy Commissioner and the ACC board, now has a deadline of August 23, instead of the end of this month, ACC interim chairwoman Paula Rebstock said yesterday.
The delay was caused by the volume of information that needed to be gathered and assessed.

© 2012 Fairfax New Zealand Ltd

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7189884/ACC-confirms-testing-for-claimants

479 Otago names on ACC email

An article from the Otago Daily Times by John Gibb

The names of 479 Otago ACC claimants appear on a list of 6725 people mistakenly emailed to Auckland claimant Bronwyn Pullar late last year, in a major privacy breach.
The names of 137 people with "sensitive claims", involving rape and sexual abuse, were also included in the national list. Several ongoing high-level inquiries, including by the Privacy Commissioner, were sparked by the email mistake. The Otago Daily Times, through an Official Information Act inquiry to ACC on March 16, sought the number of Otago claimants involved.
Dr Denise Powell, the president of Acclaim Otago, an ACC claimant support organisation, said the figure obtained by the ODT this week showed the privacy issue clearly affected many Dunedin and Otago people as well as thousands of ACC claimants elsewhere in the country. It is understood the 479 Otago people had initiated about 700 Otago-related reviews of previous ACC decisions in the 12 months ending on June 30 last year.
Dr Powell said the 479 figure revealed the remarkably large number of people in Otago who had been dissatisfied with previous ACC decision-making in a single financial year.
"It makes it very real," she added.
Under New Zealand's official information legislation, requests for such information must be answered within 20 working days, with a time extension allowed in some cases, but "you must be told of the extension and the reasons for it", the Ministry of Justice advises. The ODT has also made a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsmen over the delays.
The delays were drawn to ACC's attention on May 24, but despite apologies and explanations about an oversight and administrative pressures, more than a further month went by before the information was provided.
In a letter to the ODT this week, ACC government services adviser Jon-Paul Bignold "sincerely apologises" and "sincerely regrets the undue delays" in handling the request.
"Unfortunately these delays were caused by administrative errors that resulted in your request remaining unanswered," Mr Bignold said.
Other ACC officials were approached yesterday to respond to criticism of the delays, and ACC trust issues, but no further comment was immediately available.
The emailed information sent to Ms Pullar involved a spreadsheet listing the names of ACC clients, relating to claims going through the Disputes Resolution Services Ltd review process between July 1, 2010, and June 30 last year. The spreadsheet had earlier been sent internally to dozens of ACC managers throughout the country.
Dunedin lawyer Peter Sara said a "significant number" of Otago people had been affected by the privacy breach, and he believed ACC had later deliberately "done a go-slow " over the release of the information sought by the ODT. A great deal of work, and not just offering some "bland phrases", would be needed if the public's trust in ACC was to be restored, Mr Sara said. And ACC administrators should be more mindful about "accountability to the Fourth Estate", he said.

© Allied Press Ltd 2007

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/214978/479-otago-names-acc-email

Interim board chair welcomes new priorities set for ACC

A press release from ACC

ACC’s interim Board Chair Paula Rebstock says ACC is a unique, no fault comprehensive Kiwi accident insurance scheme that we all pay for so people can get help if they have an accident.
“People expect and want us to be professional and respectful in the way we provide services to the public – that is what the Government’s priorities reflect and it’s the role of the ACC board and management to deliver that.”
The new priorities are:
• improved trust and confidence
• improved management and security of private information
• maintaining a focus on levy stability and financial sustainability
• providing high quality services for clients
• ensuring early resolution of disputes
• reporting on the performance of the accredited employer programme.

ACC has developed specific measures and performance targets relating to these priorities, which are outlined in the Service and Purchase Agreement 2012-15.
“The clear message in the Statement of Intent and the Service and Purchase Agreement is that there is a new set of priorities,” says Ms Rebstock.
“The Board and management of ACC understand we have to earn the trust and confidence of New Zealanders and we’re committed to doing that.”
Ms Rebstock says the way ACC manages people’s personal and private information is the subject of a large body of work that has only just begun, and there will be a lot more detail on that when the Privacy Commissioner and the Board complete the independent review of ACC systems and processes.
“We have been set some very clear targets and objectives to improve not only what we do, but how we do it.
“ACC is working to get better results for the injured, better support for levy payers and improve the relationship with the health sector. We will achieve this by investing equally in developing the capability of our people and supporting them with world class operating systems,” says Ms Rebstock.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1206/S00389/interim-board-chair-welcomes-new-priorities-set-for-acc.htm

ACC sensitive claimant left 'broken' after four reviews

An interview from Radio New Zealand

As we said earlier on Morning Report, more people are coming forward alleging unfair treatment by the ACC.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2523289/acc-sensitive-claimant-left-%27broken%27-after-four-reviews

New contract to 'rebalance' ACC targets

An article from the Dominion Post by Andrea Vance

ACC Minister Judith Collins will set out tough new expectations in a new contract with the troubled corporation – to be tabled in Parliament today.
The document is a rolling three-year service and purchase agreement between the Government and the state insurer. It is understood to be a long way from an agreement signed in June 2010 by former minister Nick Smith, which focused on financial performance, and will "rebalance" its objectives.
Dr Smith and board chairman John Judge – who was let go this month – agreed ACC would get rid of 1150 long-term clients a year.
Ms Collins, who is in China, has said she wants to drive a "culture change" to restore public confidence in the corporation. In April, she said: "ACC must follow a fair process for assessing their eligibility and ensuring they receive fair entitlements."
The corporation has been attacked this year for operating a policy in which thousands of long-term clients – branded "low-hanging fruit" – were shed. The strategy paid staff bonuses to get clients off its lists. And the poor treatment of clients culminated in the Bronwyn Pullar saga – which claimed the scalps of Dr Smith, Mr Judge, chief executive Ralph Stewart and three other board members.
ACC called police after Ms Pullar went public with a mass privacy breach of the details of 6000 claimants. Police found no case to answer.
Green Party ACC spokesman Kevin Hague told Parliament yesterday that adjudicator Dispute Resolution Services had upheld almost half of the appeals lodged by long-term claimants kicked off ACC's books in 2012. He also revealed that the district court had also overturned half of ACC decisions upheld by Dispute Resolution Services.
Prime Minister John Key said that "over the past six years the average percentage of disputed decisions found in the corporation's favour is 71.8 per cent".
To say that "because a few cases go against the corporation, everything is broken there, is just simply incorrect".
Opposition parties yesterday criticised ACC for offering compensation worth $250 to victims of the data leak. Labour's ACC spokesman Andrew Little said the offer heaped "injustice upon injustice".

© 2012 Fairfax NZ News

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7182650/New-contract-to-rebalance-ACC-targets

Question to the Prime Minister

12. KEVIN HAGUE (Green) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his reported comments regarding ACC that he “backed the corporation’s harder stance, saying it should continue and there was no evidence legitimate claimants were missing out”?

Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister): I think the member might find that that was poetic licence taken by the *New Zealand Herald. I stand by my actual statement in response to a question, which asked whether I had any concerns that ACC is prioritising its bottom line over entitlements for claimants, to which I responded that I had not seen any real evidence of that. I also said that what has got to be carefully monitored is that we are not throwing people off the tail, or their support from ACC, if it is neither legally correct nor fair.
Kevin Hague: How can he be sure that legitimate claimants are not missing out when almost half of those long-term claimants who have appealed ACC’s decision to exit them in 2012 are found by *Dispute Resolution Services to have been wrongly kicked off?
Rt Hon JOHN KEY: There can and will be isolated cases where someone has not been treated fairly, and that is against what I think is appropriate, which is why I said on Monday that it had to be legal and fair. I would point also to the advice that I have in relation to *Dispute Resolution Services that over the past 6 years the average percentage of disputed decisions found in the corporation’s favour is 71.8 percent.
Kevin Hague: How can he be sure that legitimate claimants are not missing out when, of those decisions of ACC upheld by Dispute Resolution Services that are subsequently appealed at the District Court, around half of those are overturned?
Rt Hon JOHN KEY: As I said earlier, I cannot be sure in every case, which is why I said earlier in the week that it is very important that the corporation deals with people in a way that is both
legally correct and fair. It is also important that people have an avenue to test their rights, if they believe they have not been fairly treated, and people do. The Government separated Dispute Resolution Services from ACC, to emphasise its independence. As I said in answer to the last question, in terms of disputed decisions, 71.8 percent are found in the corporation’s favour.
Kevin Hague: Is he aware that a core competency required in ACC case manager job descriptions is that case managers “can decide and act without having the total picture”, and does he agree that the full picture is needed if the numbers of cases overturned on appeal are to be reduced?
Rt Hon JOHN KEY: No; that is an operational matter that should be put to the chief executive, or at the very least the *Minister for ACC.
Kevin Hague: Can the Prime Minister confirm that the average over 6 years of decisions by ACC that have been upheld under review in fact masks a trend whereby, in the last 3 years, those decisions have been below the 70 percent target that the Government has set, whereas in the preceding 3 years they were above it?
Rt Hon JOHN KEY: No. What I can say, as I said in response to earlier questions, is that over the past 6 years the average percentage of disputed decisions that are found in the corporation’s favour is 71.8 percent. The average percentage of elective surgery decisions found in the corporation’s favour is 64.6 percent. In the year to date the percentage of elective surgical decisions found in the corporation’s favour is higher than the rate under a Labour Government. But can I make this one point, and that is that the corporation deals, to the best of my knowledge, with about 1.5 million claimants a year. There are some very technical and difficult cases for everybody in amongst that. But for the most part we should be congratulating the corporation, because I think that for the most part it does a good job for New Zealanders.
Kevin Hague: What action, if any at all, has the Government taken to improve the quality of ACC’s decisions, given the increasing number of decisions that are being taken to review, and ACC’s repeated failure over the past 3 years to meet its contracted target of having at least 70 percent of its decisions about long-term claimants upheld at review?
Rt Hon JOHN KEY: As I said earlier, Dispute Resolution Services was made independent from the corporation to help in that regard. In terms of the success rate in favour of the corporation, it is very high, as I have been saying. There will always be individual cases, but for the member to make the case that, because a few cases go against the corporation, everything is broken there, is just simply incorrect.
Kevin Hague: I seek leave to table an ACC document. It is the job description for a case manager in claims management.
Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is no objection. Document, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1206/S00419/questions-and-answers-june-27.htm

Back to work

A blog post from Off the Couch by Kyle MacDonald

Freud was famously quoted (or possibly mis-quoted, translating from German to English can be a bit tricky) as saying his definition of good mental health, or “normal neurosis” was to “Live, love and work.”
It seems John Key’s definition is much simpler: Work.
Both our Prime Minister and the current Minister for the ACC have both revealed their lack of understanding of the world of disability and welfare by their answers to recent questions about the performance based targets at the ACC:

“She [Ms. Collins] said measures that helped ACC encourage people back into work where appropriate were “a good thing”. NZ Herald, June 22, 2012.

This was further reinforced with yesterday’s announcement that WINZ will have a target of reducing the number of long term beneficiaries by 30%.  No word on where the jobs, training or rehabilitation to facilitate this will come from.   Just a number. 30%, gone, by 2017.

Click here to read the rest of this post.

http://psychotherapy.org.nz/back-to-work/

ACC must improve their decision-making

A press release from Acclaim Otago (Inc)

“In the last 12 months, we have seen an increase in the number of people winning at both the review and appeal stage” says Dr Denise Powell, president of Acclaim Otago (Inc). “We are extremely concerned that ACC seems be making reckless decisions especially as they relate to the exiting of people from the long term claims pool”.
In the house today, Prime Minister John Key referred to the appropriate process available for people to challenge ACC decisions, that they believed to be incorrect. “What Mr Key is not acknowledging is the very real stress that having to fight for entitlement has on people.”
Dr Powell claims that a significant number of people who lose their entitlement don’t actually follow through with the review and appeal process because of physical, mental and financial restraints. “While technically ACC is correct when they say the review process is ‘free’, in reality it is a litigious environment. ACC has the use of taxpayer’s funds to hire outside legal representation, which they do, as well as having an in house legal team, which is blatantly unfair.”
The disentitled client on the other hand often has just lost their income and has to rely on family and friends to pay for legal representation. While costs can be awarded at both review and appeal, the levels of those are nowhere near what the actual costs are to have appropriate representation. Powell gives an example to illustrate her point, “We have a member who has just won back their entitlement to weekly compensation after pursuing justice through the review and appeal process. The legal bill amounted to over $30,000 and the emotional toll was huge. Unfortunately, such stories are all too common.”
"ACC should be making robust decisions based on people’s clinical presentation and need rather than saying to clients, 'If you don’t like our decision you can take it to review' because in reality that process should not abdicate ACC from making good decisions in the first place,” Dr Powell concludes.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1206/S00374/acc-must-improve-their-decision-making.htm

ACC’s compo deal should come with no strings attached

A press release from the Green Party by Kevin Hague

ACC should remove the obligation on victims of its privacy breach to sign away their right to talk about its compensation offer or take any legal action in the future, the Green Party said today.
As part of its $250 payment to victims of its mass leak of sensitive claimants’ details, ACC is asking them to accept it is a “full and final” settlement and to stay quiet about it forever.
“It’s neither fair nor reasonable for ACC to demand the claimants give up their right to sue in future over the breach or to complain about their treatment by the corporation,” Green Party ACC spokesman Kevin Hague said,
“The small sum of $250 should be seen as a nominal acknowledgement of harm by ACC and be given with no strings attached.
“It should not be seen as a fair settlement between two parties. There has been no negotiation, or any sort of process where the claimants have been able to have their individual situation heard and acknowledged, and which has led to a settlement.
“The insulting offer of $250 to everyone, regardless of their circumstances, on ACC’s terms alone, is symptomatic of the arrogance which got the corporation into this trouble in the first place.
“New Zealanders gave away their right to sue over injury when they agreed to the formation of no-fault ACC scheme in the early 1970s.
“These people should not feel compelled to give away their right to a full negotiation or compensation just because it’s convenient for ACC,” Mr Hague said.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1206/S00407/accs-compo-deal-should-come-with-no-strings-attached.htm

'They might as well not bother'

An article from the New Zealand Herald by Paul Harper

A rape victim whose privacy was breached by ACC says she will not be taking a $250 compensation offer from the corporation which requires her to keep silent on the issue.
ACC emailed the details of 6748 clients - including nearly 250 claimants who were the victims of sexual or violent assault - to another ACC client, Bronwyn Pullar, who exposed the breach.
The corporation has now sent a four page letter of apology to the sensitive claims clients, Fairfax Media reported, offering them $250 compensation for the breach.
The letter from ACC privacy officer Miriama Henderson says the payment is based on the level of harm or potential harm brought about by the breach.
It asks for their bank account details so the compensation could be deposited.
However in order to receive the money clients must agree to "maintain the strictest confidentiality about the terms of the agreement and settlement of all aspects of it".
One woman, who has been battling ACC for several years as she seeks more support for trauma counselling following a rape, told Radio New Zealand she was "very scared" after learning of the privacy breach.
"I didn't know if my information had gone anywhere else. I didn't know if what they told me was true and it took me ages to get them to actually send me a letter after the breach."
She said the whole experience, on top of her ongoing struggle with ACC, has led to her feel suicidal.
"I didn't think it was fair on my family to put them through all this because I want to be a mum but I can't be because going through this process makes you traumatised the whole time and I can't function."
"To be offered $250 [for the breach] doesn't cover any of my husband's extra time he's taken to look after me.
"So now I have to write to ACC to say I won't be accepting the $250. They might as well not bother."
The woman said seeking support from ACC is a "harsh process to go through for someone in a sensitive claim", and feels she was treated as "just a number".
"I just want other people to know that ... we're not trying to take money from the taxpayer.
"I just want to be able to function in the community and get help, because I didn't ask for what happened to me."

© 2012 APN Holdings NZ Ltd

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10815772

ACC's $250 compo for breaches 'pathetic' - victim

An article from the Dominion Post by Phil Kitchin

ACC has sent letters of apology to rape and incest victims whose privacy was breached – offering them $250 if they agree to stay silent.
The breach exposed by the Bronwyn Pullar scandal in March included names and details of 6500 ACC claimants and 250 sensitive-claims clients who are victims of sexual abuse and violent crimes.
"When I got the letter and offer I just thought it was pathetic," one sensitive claims client said yesterday. "I just wanted to vomit. It's another slap in the face after all the things they've done."
The woman said it was a sick irony that ACC wanted confidentiality agreements when it was its own sloppy breach of confidentiality that caused the scandal in the first place.
The four-page letter from ACC privacy officer Miriama Henderson says: "We deeply regret that on this occasion we failed to provide the level of service you could rightly expect from us and wish to ensure you receive appropriate remedy for what happened."
It asks the clients for their bank account details and says an "integral element" of accepting the $250 is that the clients agree to "maintain the strictest confidentiality about the terms of the agreement and settlement of all aspects of it".
ACC said it was offering the money because the breach involved details of the clients being in the sensitive claims unit and that may have caused distress. It finished by saying ACC "has your best interests at heart" and was committed to moving forward positively "following this regrettable incident".
But the letters have drawn fire from several ACC clients in internet discussions and from the woman who provided a copy of her letter to The Dominion Post. Several have said they will not sign a secrecy agreement with ACC.
The sensitive claims unit client said ACC repeatedly breached name suppression in the privacy breach by sending names and details of sexual-violence victims to at least 50 ACC staff who should not have received them. Her letter from ACC says the corporation now removes the names of clients from spreadsheets before sending them out.
"After all the bullying, revictimising, disentitlement and waiting to go to court [to challenge ACC's decision to cut off her claim], they won't be having my signature," the woman said.
"Strictest confidentiality. They'd need a lawyer to explain the definition of that to them."

© 2012 Fairfax NZ News

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/7175176/ACCs-250-compo-for-breaches-pathetic-victim

ACC leak victim feels 'suicidal' after privacy breach

An interview from Radio New Zealand

A woman with a sensitive ACC claim who's had her privacy breached says the 250 dollars compensation she's been offered makes her feel sick to the stomach, setting back her progress and forcing her to re-live painful memories.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2523151/acc-leak-victim-feels-%27suicidal%27-after-privacy-breach

ACC's tougher line fails to satisfy independent reviewers

An article from the New Zealand Herald by Adam Bennett

ACC decisions to cut long-term claimants loose from entitlements have been overturned by independent reviews at a higher rate since the corporation adopted a tougher approach to them three years ago, new figures show.
But Prime Minister John Key yesterday backed the corporation's harder stance, saying it should continue and there was no evidence legitimate claimants were missing out.
ACC monitors what it calls its "review uphold rate" - the percentage of formal reviews of ACC decisions that are decided in favour of the corporation - as "an important measure" of the quality of its service. The rate gives "a key indicator of whether the proportion of ACC's decisions that comply with the legislation has changed".
Its target in recent years has been a 70 per cent success rate at review. Figures provided by the corporation yesterday showed that when it came to long-term claimants on weekly compensation for 2 years or more, it was meeting that target easily in the three years to 2009. In that time the review uphold rate for claimants managed by the specialist Recover Independence Services (RIS) division was between 73 per cent and 77 per cent.
But the corporation adopted a tougher approach to long-term claims in early 2009. In June 2010, then-ACC Minister Nick Smith and ACC chairman John Judge signed a three-year deal setting out a "priority" that the corporation would get rid of 1150 long-term clients a year. It had 13,157 clients when the service and purchase agreement was signed. In 2010 the RIS review uphold rate fell to 64 per cent, was 66 per cent last year and just 55 per cent in the 10 months to April this year.
Green Party ACC spokesman Kevin Hague said the review figures showed that ACC's "much more aggressive tone" since the 2010 agreement had led to clinically inappropriate decisions in dealing with clients.
But Mr Key said aiming to move people out of long-term support was the right goal because "it's very expensive and secondly unless it's appropriately applied we'd have too many people on it".

© 2012 APN Holdings NZ Ltd

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10815507

High-level panel needed to review ACC

A press release from the New Zealand Labour Party by Andrew Little

Judith Collins should appoint a high-level panel to review ACC, says Labour’s ACC spokesperson Andrew Little.
“Thorough investigation is needed into how ACC manages long term claimants, in light of revelations that incentive payments have been made to staff who can move claimants on quickly.
"We need to see a panel made up of a senior lawyer, possibly a judge, a senior medic, possibly a professor of medicine and a senior public servant to go through how decisions have been made.
"Seeing the numbers who have been removed from ACC's cover and hearing from a few of those affected, there are real questions about the legal and ethical basis for some of these decisions," Andrew Little said.
"The issues are legal, medical and administrative and must be resolved if the agency is to regain credibility.
"Some of the cases I have heard about - with multiple medical reports being called for and people being taken off earnings related compensation then put back on - make for chilling reading.
“I am afraid there is growing speculation about the good faith of some decisions. It is in the public interest, and in the Minister’s interest, for this to be resolved as soon as possible,” Andrew Little said.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1206/S00358/high-level-panel-needed-to-review-acc.htm

ACC's quota deal with Smith revealed

An article from the Dominion Post by Phil Kitchin

ACC'S policy of ridding itself of thousands of long-term clients is laid bare in agreements the corporation signed with the Government revealing that a far tougher quota system was adopted two years ago.
Senior ACC managers have since spoken of their success at cutting long-term clients from the books at a conference in Australia, saying the "low-hanging fruit" was gone but the job would get harder.
General manager of claims management Denise Cosgrove told the actuary conference in Brisbane in November that ACC has now shifted its focus to high-cost claims and had "an absolute strategy" but was keeping it secret.
"But that's what we are developing this year. The dollar amount we can achieve in savings from the long-term tail service, so that's how we can drive some of these improvements," she said.
"You might sit there and say, 'Well yeah, sure, that's just all the low-hanging fruit and the easy gains. How are you going to sustain that momentum?' And I get that constant message from the board every day."
In June 2010, then ACC minister Nick Smith and outgoing ACC chairman John Judge signed a three-year agreement that stated as a "priority" that the corporation would get rid of 1150 long-term clients a year. It had 13,157 such clients when the service and purchase agreement was signed. For the first year of the agreement, ACC beat its target by "exiting" 1542 clients. The agreement was then amended, and last year aimed to reduce long-term client numbers by 406. ACC again beat that figure by cutting 843.
Ms Cosgrove told the group of insurers and actuaries in Brisbane that ACC had "an absolute strategy ... and we're not reporting it as a public measure yet". Its focus was now on high-cost claims because the "actuarial release" would be stronger.
The policy has drawn criticism from ACC clients, advocates and politicians.
Greens ACC spokesman Kevin Hague said the agreements showed ACC's board was under pressure to "literally remove thousands of claimants from the corporation".
The pressure from Dr Smith led to the board pressuring frontline staff and managers into adopting "highly unacceptable practices" such as bonus payments for getting clients off its lists, he said.
ACC had not yet signed an agreement with current ACC Minister Judith Collins, which would give her an opportunity to show her stated intent to "drive a culture change in ACC to restore public trust and confidence" in it.
"If, instead, the agreement she signs looks more or less the same as those of her predecessor, then her words will be seen as hollow," Mr Hague said.
An ACC spokeswoman said the long-term claims pool had decreased in recent years because there were fewer claims entering it and more leaving it.

© 2012 Fairfax NZ News

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7162536/ACCs-quota-deal-with-Smith-revealed

Opportunity for fresh thinking on ACC philosophy ... and funding

An editorial from the Gisborne Herald by John Jones

As the turmoil from the Bronwyn Pullar/ACC scandal subsides, it could lead into a worthwhile debate about how New Zealand’s innovative, no-fault insurance scheme is funded.
The present full-funding system, established in 1974, has been attacked by the Greens who want to switch to a pay-as-you-go system. That would see levies set at a level needed to meet the current costs of the scheme, with a buffer for unexpected events. Its greatest appeal is that it would see an immediate drop in ACC levies, which would be a huge relief for many small and medium-sized businesses.
The object of the fully-funded scheme is to ensure the corporation has enough in reserve to meet its current costs and the future costs of existing claims. It has a goal of reaching that by 2019 and so far has assets of $24 billion, just $4 billion below the target.
The principle of full funding is not applied to other social spending such as health, welfare or education. But with the corporation now so close to reaching its goal, would it be wise to change course?
ACC Minister Judith Collins, who will be far from grateful at getting such a poisoned chalice, is against the pay-as-you-go system — making the good point that future generations would be burdened with the cost of today’s injuries as well as their own.
It seems we are already piling up enough costs for those who will follow — environmental especially.
However, if ever there was a good time to look closely at how ACC is funded and the philosophy involved it is now, with half of the eight-member board having resigned because of the Bronwyn Pullar scandal. This creates an opportunity to bring in fresh faces and some dynamic new thinking — not only to change the corporation’s culture and repair its image, but in setting its future direction.
For Ms Collins, it is an opportunity to create something good from actions and attitudes that have caused harm. Let’s hope she takes it.

© 2012 The Gisborne Herald

http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/opinion/editorial/?id=28189

ACC needs to refocus

A press release from Acclaim Otago

The documents released by Green Party MP Kevin Hague yesterday show case managers have specific targets to achieve. “This is especially concerning if it means that claimants are cut off from receiving justified entitlements when it is not clinically appropriate to do so,” said Dr Denise Powell, president of Acclaim Otago.
"There is the potential for such incentives to be twisted and the losers are those injured people who don’t receive appropriate and timely rehabilitation,” she said.
“We are also concerned about a small number of assessors who seem to be used rather extensively by ACC, and often produce reports that go against all previous clinical investigations and diagnoses."
“The pendulum of ACC’s focus needs to swing back towards the real rehabilitation of injured New Zealanders, and away from the “actuarial release” mantra of the last few years” Dr Powell concludes.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1206/S00303/acc-needs-to-refocus.htm

ACC claimants removal motive denied

A news report from Radio New Zealand

ACC chief executive Ralph Stewart denies he was put in the job to move claimants off the scheme, despite a large drop in the number of long term claimants in the last year.
Official documents have revealed that some ACC staff have performance targets linked to the number of claimants they move off the books.
Mr Stewart told Morning Report that the number of long term claimants has dropped by 1200 to about 10,400 since November. He said ACC has two priorities: to rehabilitate claimants and to manage finances, but only 20% of its staff incentive relates to rehabilitation.
Mr Stewart, who has resigned from ACC after nine months in the role, acknowledged that people's trust in the corporation needs to be improved.

Listen to more from Ralph Stewart on Morning Report

Advocacy groups are calling for a review of the cases of everyone who was taken off the scheme in the past year to see whether those decisions were justified.
A lawyer specialising in ACC cases, John Miller, says the bonus scheme is yet another example of the corporation having its priorities wrong.
Another lawyer, Peter Sara, says the policy is unprofessional and immoral.
ACC Minister Judith Collins says she doesn't have a problem with people being encouraged into work.

Listen to more on Morning Report

© 2012 Radio New Zealand

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/108904/acc-claimants-removal-motive-denied

Little always wrong on ACC claims - Collins

An article from the Dominion Post by Andrea Vance

Cabinet minister Judith Collins says Labour MP Andrew Little's claim that she ordered ACC bosses to "go after" Michelle Boag are "wrong".
Mr Little used the protection of parliamentary privilege to say Ms Collins summoned chairman John Judge and chief executive Ralph Stewart to her office in Auckland and pressured them to complain to police about whistleblower Bronwyn Pullar. Ms Boag, a former National Party president, is Ms Pullar's advocate.
Ms Collins has repeatedly denied the claim she urged ACC executives to set the police on to Ms Pullar – who revealed a mass privacy breach involving more than 6000 claimants to The Dominion Post in March.
Ms Collins yesterday insisted: "He's just wrong and wrong and wrong. I'm just going to say this about Mr Little. He's just wrong. And again. He's always wrong."
She said of the fact that Mr Little had used parliamentary privilege, "that says everything".
The pair are locked in a defamation battle over previous claims made by Mr Little.
She also brushed off his claims that she is "a sociopath".
"I think he is under stress at the moment. And I forgive him."
ACC has been in turmoil since police threw out the complaint against Ms Pullar and Ms Boag. Mr Stewart and Mr Judge have resigned, two other board members have also left while another, Murray Hilder, confirmed on Wednesday he had quit rather than accept another term.

© 2012 Fairfax New Zealand Ltd

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/7149764/Little-always-wrong-on-ACC-claims-Collins

ACC bonus pay for claimant cull

An article from the New Zealand Herald by Adam Bennett

Cabinet minister Judith Collins has admitted that ACC staff get higher pay for kicking long-term claimants off the corporation's books but defends the strategy as "a good thing" because it gets the clients back to work.
The financial incentives are just one of a number of tactics - including handpicking medical assessors - that ACC has adopted to improve its bottom line, Green Party MP Kevin Hague alleges.
ACC documents obtained by Mr Hague yesterday showed case managers' pay was bumped up when they exceeded management targets, including reducing the number of long-term claimants being paid weekly compensation. Their pay was reduced if they failed to meet those targets. The performance-pay structure amounted to "a bonus - or a disincentive if they don't kick them off as fast as ACC would like", said Mr Hague, the Greens' spokesman on ACC. The performance-pay plan also applied to team leaders, technical claims managers and branch managers.
Ms Collins said that while meeting targets for the number of long-term claimants on ACC's books was among the criteria staff pay was linked to, it was only one component.
"If they do well in the rest of their framework then that shouldn't affect their remuneration," the ACC Minister said.
She said measures that helped ACC encourage people back into work where appropriate were "a good thing".
"I don't see any problem with that, but where I do see a problem is if anyone's being forced off ACC when they're simply not able to work, and I think that's a different thing all together," Ms Collins said.
But Mr Hague said the performance pay increased the risk that "we end up with decisions about whether or not someone is entitled to compensation being driven by the financial interests of the case managers and their managers rather than the clinical needs of the claimants, which is the basis they should be made on".
He said the information he obtained yesterday under the Official Information Act was unsurprising given "we've known now for quite some time that ACC has been pursuing a deliberate strategy of targeting these long-term claimants".
The performance-pay scheme "works hand in glove with ACC's use of medical assessors whom they have handpicked on the basis of being likely to give ACC the decision they would like, and that would be in the financial interest of the case managers".
Responding to Mr Hague's questions in Parliament yesterday, Ms Collins said ACC used specialist, independent vocational rehabilitation services and clinicians, "and that is quite different from the case managers".
ACC's strategy around long-term claimants dates back three years when the corporation identified them as a threat to its long-term financial sustainability. A 2009 Executive Leadership Team Issues Paper by senior manager Phil Riley outlined a tougher new approach to long-term claims, including a "culture change" he said should foster "a stronger balance by staff between customer focus and scheme-liability management, and increasing personal responsibility by clients".
Mr Riley estimated that the strategy could reduce ACC's liabilities by $900 million to $1.4 billion by next year.
Yesterday, Mr Hague said: "This sort of scheme is symptomatic of a sick culture within ACC. ACC needs to return to being an organisation that focuses on prioritising claimants needs."
In 2010 and again this year, the Herald ran a series of articles about the ACC's hard line with claimants, particularly those making claims for surgery. During the series, more than 400 people complained about their ACC cases.
Some lawyers and independent orthopaedic surgeons criticised ACC over its crackdown on surgery access. They alleged it relied on brief, weak opinions from its doctors, some of whom had retired from treating patients and were often not specialists in the areas they advised on.

© 2012 APN Holdings NZ Ltd

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10814678

Question to Minister

3. KEVIN HAGUE to the Minister for ACC: Can she confirm that staff in ACC’s Recovery Independence Service teams receive more or less remuneration dependent on whether the proportion of people receiving weekly compensation is less or more than specified duration targets?

Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister for ACC) : I have today been advised that within the performance framework for the Recover Independence Service team, there is a component related to net entries to the long-term claim pool. I have also been advised that the component related to that number was approximately 15 percent of how a case-managed performance is measured. If a case manager performs well against the other 85 percent of their targets, they may still be entitled to a performance-based pay increase.
Kevin Hague: What is the clinical basis for these targets, if any at all?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I do not think I can answer that, because it is very much an operational issue, but I can say that ACC has advised me that it uses specialist, independent vocational rehabilitation services and clinicians to help people return to their pre-injury occupation wherever possible.
Kevin Hague: Does the Minister accept that having a financial incentive to terminate claimants’ compensation is likely to make case managers more inclined to terminate compensation for more claimants?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: If the member wants to put it like that, I can understand why he would be concerned. But we can look at it another way, which is a financial incentive to help people get back to independence and get back to work. I would say that was probably a good thing.
Kevin Hague: What safeguards, if any at all, are there to ensure that staff financial incentives do not lead to clinically inappropriate decisions to terminate compensation?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I am advised that ACC uses the specialist, independent vocational rehabilitation services and clinicians, and that these people are independent, and that that is quite different from the case managers.
Kevin Hague: Is she aware that the rates of successful challenges of ACC decisions continue to rise in both the decision review process and in the District Court, and does she agree that that is indicative of something badly wrong in ACC decision-making?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I think what it does indicate is that Dispute Resolution Services is clearly quite independent of ACC, as is, obviously, the District Court. There may well be instances—as in ACC previously—where they believe that there are too many decisions being reversed on the basis that someone is clearly making the wrong decisions, the wrong call. That tells me that these are made by independent clinicians. Actually, I think it would be a bad thing if every dispute that was sent to, for instance, Dispute Resolution Services for ACC was upheld. That would tell me that the service was either not independent or that nobody was actually checking to see whether or not people can work.
Kevin Hague: What other ACC staff or contractors have financial incentives to deny claims or reduce compensation or rehabilitation services to ACC claimants?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I do not have that information.
Kevin Hague: Has she now received enough information about ACC’s disastrous claims management processes to ask the Auditor-General to bring forward her investigation of ACC’s claims management processes?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I have not actually received enough information to do that. I am aware that the Auditor-General is undertaking her review, and I am prepared to wait for that review.
Kevin Hague: I seek leave to table a document. It is a document from ACC in response to an Official Information Act request from a member of the public. It sets out the key performance indicators for staff in the Recover Independence Service teams.
Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is no objection.

Document, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.

Andrew Little: What incentives are there under the ACC performance framework for Recover Independence Service staff to ensure that ACC meets its statutory obligations in relation to treatment, compensation, and rehabilitation?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I have been advised by ACC that the performance framework relates to 10 percent of performance against organisational goals, which clearly would include what that member has just asked; 10 percent against team goals, again; 30 percent against organisational values, which are clearly those matters he has raised; and 50 percent against personal goals. The 50 percent of personal goals includes 25 percent case-management quality, 10 percent customer service, and 15 percent net entries to the long-term claim pool.
Andrew Little: How effective is the new regime for vocational rehabilitation, which is intended to assist some claimants to return to work, or to recover their independence, given that there is a new layer of administration to pay for, called lead providers, and front-line service providers are complaining of being paid less and spending less time with claimants?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I am sorry, could the member repeat his question? I did not catch all of it.
Mr SPEAKER: I ask the member, please, to do that.
Andrew Little: How effective is the new regime for vocational rehabilitation, which is intended to assist some claimants to return to work—namely, to recover their independence—given that there is a new layer of administration to pay for, called lead providers, and front-line service providers are complaining of being paid less and spending less time with claimants?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I have been advised by ACC, when I have been around visiting its offices, that what has been necessary is to actually bring in lead providers to maintain the quality of assistance that is given in terms of the claimants, because before they had a large number of providers, and very little ability to supervise the quality. So it has been, I think, cut down to about six lead providers, and that seems to be working quite well.

http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Business/QOA/4/3/4/50HansQ_20120621_00000003-3-Accident-Compensation-Recover-Independence.htm

ACC pay shouldn’t be tied to cutting claimants entitlements

A press release from the Green Party by Kevin Hague

ACC claimants should not lose their entitlements so that ACC team managers and their staff can get bonus payments, Green Party ACC spokesperson Kevin Hague said today.
Documents released under the Official Information Act show that ACC staff working with people receiving tong term claim payments have specific targets they have to achieve. Those same worker’s remuneration is tied to achieving these targets.
“ACC staff are paid a flat rate which can go up or down depending on how they perform,” said Mr Hague.
“It is completely unacceptable that one of the performance mechanisms for ACC staff receiving pay is how many claimants are cut off from receiving their entitlements.
“Incentivising the withdrawal of financial support for claimants will inevitably lead to this occurring before it is clinically appropriate in some cases.
“It is also important to note that staff failing to meet ACC’s self-imposed targets to move claimants off ACC may be penalised financially.
“This sort of scheme is symptomatic of a sick culture within ACC.
“ACC needs to return back to being an organisation that focuses on prioritising claimants needs,” said Mr Hague
“The Green Party has proposed a ‘Rehabilitation Plan for ACC’, that would see ACC return to its original Woodhouse principles of being a client focused organisation.”
Note: Green MP Kevin Hague is asking question three in the House today on this issue.

The Green Party ACC rehab plan

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1206/S00308/acc-pay-shouldnt-be-tied-to-cutting-claimants-entitlements.htm

ACC minister put pressure on bosses to make complaint - Labour

An article from the New Zealand Herald by Adam Bennett

ACC bosses laid a police complaint alleging blackmail by claimant Bronwyn Pullar and Michelle Boag after being pressured by their minister Judith Collins, Labour MP Andrew Little says.
In a general debate at Parliament this afternoon Mr Little claimed that during a meeting between ACC Ralph Stewart, chairman John Judge and Ms Collins in Auckland the day after a massive privacy breach at ACC was revealed, Ms Collins told the two men to "go after Michelle Boag".
"She urged and pressured and pressed the chief executive and chairman of the board to make a complaint to the police and that's what they did".
ACC laid a complaint against Ms Pullar in March a week after she went to the media about the corporation's error in mistakenly emailing her information about thousands of other claimants seven months earlier.
ACC alleged that during a meeting with two ACC managers in December last year, Ms Pullar and her support person, former National Party president Ms Boag threatened to go to the media with the information unless Ms Pullar was granted a two year guaranteed benefit.
However two weeks ago, police said no offence was "disclosed" and a few days later ACC chief executive Ralph Stewart and his chairman John Judge last week resigned.
"She told them to do it and then when the police came back and said there's nothing here... she hung them out to dry", Mr Little said this afternoon under the protection of parliamentary privilege.
Ms Collins has consistently said she had nothing to do with ACC's decision to make the complaint against Ms Pullar.
Ms Collins is currently progressing defamation proceedings against Mr Little and his colleague Trevor Mallard after the pair repeated allegations made in Parliament in a subsequent interview on Radio NZ which linked Ms Collins to the leak of a revealing email about the December meeting.

No return to 'pay as you go'
Ms Collins has ruled out a return to "pay as you go" funding for the corporation, a move opposition parties were backing as a means to make the scheme more affordable.
National abandoned pay as you go and instituted "full funding" for the accident insurance scheme in 1998 when it opened the scheme up to private competition. When Labour took office in the following year it agreed to retain full funding.
Full funding or "pre-funding" means the insurer aims to build up big reserves of cash assets sufficient to make payments to all the claimants on its books for the likely duration of their claim.
Pay as you go means annual claims are largely matched by annual levies and other income and as such it requires lower levies and the corporation to hold smaller reserves.
Labour's current position is that it would retain full funding if it returned to Government, but ACC spokesman Andrew Little recently said his party was reviewing its position and called for a public debate about funding options.
Mr Little noted Ms Collins had not dismissed the possibility of a return to pay as you go in recent comments but this afternoon she did just that.
"Pay as you go is not for us," she said.
"We're not going to burden the next generations with the accidents of this generation and I'm surprised that the Greens and Labour who support the Cullen fund on the same basis that it's pre-funding superannuation would suddenly decide that they want to burden our future generations with the cost of our injuries.
"I think it's somewhat unrealistic and we're actually doing very well on the funding what we're looking at is just some of the levels of pre-funding but in terms of pre-funding it's not for us."

© 2012 APN Holdings NZ Ltd

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10814318

ACC minister rejects funding change

An article from the Dominion Post by Vernon Small

ACC Minister Judith Collins has finally rejected a return to "pay-as-you-go" funding for the state-owned insurer, after earlier refusing to rule it out as part of a review of funding options.
"Pay as you go is not for us, no," she said today.
Labour spokesman Andrew Little has called for a debate about dumping the current fully funded model, which would allow levies to drop by up to 25 per cent.
The Greens' Kevin Hague favoured a switch to pay-as-you-go, but was also eyeing up to $15 billion in reserves held by the corporation for other projects.
Collins said the Government did not want to burden future generations with the cost of current accidents.
"I'm surprised that the Greens and Labour, who support the Cullen fund on the same basis as it's pre-funding superannuation, would suddenly decide that they want to burden our future generations with the cost of our injuries."
Some claimants could be with the corporation for up to 80 years, so it was unrealistic. to shift to pay-as-you-go.
She said the corporation was doing well on funding.
"What we're looking at is just looking at some of the levels of pre-funding," she said.
Under the current fully-funded model, ACC sets levies to cover the current and future costs of existing claimants and is aiming to reach its fully funded target by 2019. ACC currently has investments of $19.5b and a net liability of $4.5b.
Hague had said changing the way ACC was funded could give a $1b windfall to workers and businesses and free up the reserves to cut government debt or fund the Christchurch rebuild.
Little favoured leaving the existing reserves with ACC.
In the current year, ACC expects to collect $5b in levies from workers, employers and motor vehicle owners and pay out $2.8b.

© 2012 Fairfax NZ News

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7137311/ACC-minister-rejects-funding-change

Full funding for ACC a political swamp that must be drained

A press release from the Council of Trade Unions

The CTU welcomes indications by two political parties that they would abandon "full funding" of ACC claims and return to pay as you go with a substantial reserve, CTU Economist Bill Rosenberg says.
"We would encourage the government to use its current review of ACC funding methods to review full funding", he said.
"Full funding has proven to be a political swamp because the funding target rises and falls by as much as annual levy payments. This is a result of changes in assumptions about discount rates, investment returns, rehabilitation rates and cost inflation. It provides excuses for political swamp dwellers to alternate between cries of 'ACC funding crisis' and 'unaffordable levies' without a real basis for either."
In addition building the reserves required for it has been a major driver of rising levies.
Full funding has no practical purpose for a publicly provided service backed by the government. Unlike the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, it does not provide for future generations. It just covers the highly variable estimates of the cost of current claims.
Even a major event like the Christchurch earthquake "will not have a significant impact on ACC’s overall financial situation" according to ACC's own Statement of Intent, and outstanding claims are estimated at just $52 million compared to the total $2.8 billion claims budgeted for in the year to June 2012 and total assets of $24 billion. A sensible level of reserves would cover such situations.
"ACC's history shows that the biggest risk it has to cover is the political risk of opportunist or hostile politicians undermining its credibility. An adequate level of reserves would insure against that and major disasters. The huge reserves required for full funding are simply a burden on the economy."

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1206/S00266/full-funding-for-acc-a-political-swamp-that-must-be-drained.htm

ACC changes could return $1b to workers

An article from Stuff by Vernon Small

Changing the way ACC is funded could give a $1 billion windfall to workers and businesses and free up billions of dollars in reserves that could be used to cut government debt or fund the Christchurch rebuild, Green MP Kevin Hague says. The Greens back a change to "pay-as-you-go" funding for ACC.
Labour ACC spokesman Andrew Little has also called for a public debate about the option and the Council of Trade Unions and ACC lobby groups have weighed in with calls for change.
ACC Minister Judith Collins has not ruled out dropping the current "full- funding" model. However, yesterday she appeared to back away from that, saying the Government "does not want to burden future generations of New Zealanders with the cost of injuries that occur today as well as the cost of their own injuries".
Under full funding, the corporation sets levies above the annual cost of claims so it can build up reserves to also cover the future costs of existing claims. It aims to reach that goal by 2019, and currently has investments of $19.5b and a net liability of $4.5b.
Little said his calculations, based on pre-2009 levies, suggested about $1b could be sliced off annual levies under a move to pay-as-you-go funding.
"Since every wage and salary earner and every business pays it, it will have a noticeable impact."
In the current year, ACC expects to collect $5b in levies from workers, employers and motor vehicle owners and pay out $2.8b. Little favoured leaving the existing reserves with ACC.
However, Hague said the reserves could be reduced to about $6b - enough for a buffer of two or three years. The remaining $14b could be used to "even out the distinctions" between illness and accident-related cover, cut debt, invest in capital projects or help pay for the Christchurch rebuild.
"We could make much better use of the dollars than keeping them in uncertain investments," he said.
A change was yesterday backed by lobby group ACC Futures Coalition. Spokeswoman Hazel Armstrong said private insurers needed full funding to cover claims, but it was not appropriate for a public agency such as ACC. It had been used to create "a false sense of crisis" at ACC.
Pension and retirement expert Michael Littlewood has long campaigned for full funding to be dropped, and today CTU economist Bill Rosenberg said full-funding had become  "a political swamp" that needed draining. The funding target rose and fell as a result of changes in assumptions about discount rates, investment returns, rehabilitation rates and cost inflation.
"It provides excuses for political swamp dwellers to alternate between cries of 'ACC funding crisis' and 'unaffordable levies' without a real basis for either. In addition building the reserves required for it has been a major driver of rising levies."

© 2012 Fairfax New Zealand Ltd

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/7137311/ACC-changes-could-return-1b-to-workers

ACC privacy breach payout offered

An article from the Dominion Post

ACC has posted letters offering compensation to victims of a mass privacy breach that saw their details mistakenly emailed to another client.
It is understood compensation is being offered to about 250 people whose cases are with ACC's most secure unit - the sensitive claims unit - which holds details of victims of violent and sexual crimes.
The amount offered is believed to be in the "low hundreds" of dollars and is not being extended to others whose cases were deemed to be less sensitive.
A total of 6748 ACC claimaints were on the database that was sent out by mistake to whistleblower Bronwyn Pullar. ACC has apologised for failing to act over the privacy breach after it was exposed in The Dominion Post.
The fiasco has claimed the scalps of ACC chairman John Judge, and board members John McCliskie and Rob Campbell. ACC chief executive Ralph Stewart has also resigned. ACC Minister Judith Collins yesterday confirmed the departure of another board member, Murray Hilder.

© 2012 Fairfax New Zealand Ltd

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/7134733/ACC-privacy-breach-payout-offered

Sixth ACC casualty as board member leaves

A news report from 3 News by Patrick Gower

The ACC-Bronwyn Pullar privacy scandal has now claimed its sixth casualty. 3 News can reveal another board member, Murray Hilder, has quit. That brings the total to three board members, plus the chair, chief executive and a minister.
But the Government has been keeping Mr Hilder's departure quiet.
“I'm happy to make it public but it's not something I've considered,” ACC Minister Judith Collins says.
She says Mr Murray did not tell her why he was leaving. But a source close to Mr Hilder has told 3 News his skills were "the best in the business", and he simply didn't like the politics from Ms Collins.
"Murray has had a complete gutsful,” the anonymous source says. “It is blatantly obvious why he has buggered off -he does not want to be around this political behaviour."
Labour says the latest resignation was kept quiet because it is a further embarrassment.
“ACC is in chaos at the most senior levels. It is not a very good expression of confidence in the Minister,” Labour MP Andrew Little says.
Ms Collins again faced questions about whether she was involved in discussions about ACC putting the police onto Ms Pullar and Michelle Boag for alleged extortion, and whether it was all about bad blood between Ms Collins and Ms Boag.
But Ms Collins denied it that it was.
The central question has always been about what Ms Collins knew in advance about the ACC's extortion complaint to police.
“In terms of telling me or asking my advice - no - they have simply done it and advised me afterwards... I don't know how many times I have to say it," she says.
But Labour is still not convinced.
“Something just doesn't add up, and the minister isn't giving us straight answers,” Mr Little says.
So an ACC departure that the Government was so embarrassed about, no one wanted to announce it. Half the board the Government appointed has now been either sacked or has jumped ship. Just four of eight board members remain.

© 2012 MediaWorks TV

http://www.3news.co.nz/Sixth-ACC-casualty-as-board-member-leaves/tabid/1607/articleID/258308/Default.aspx

ACC breach victims could get thousands in compo

A news report from TVNZ

People caught up in the Bronwyn Pullar ACC privacy scandal could be paid thousands of dollars in compensation, ONE News has confirmed.
ACC is about to send out letters with details of settlements.
ONE News has learned the corporation is in the process of posting payment offers to some victims of the massive privacy breach.
"This is now not only causing embarrassment to ACC and harm to all these people, it's actually costing you and me, the taxpayers and levy payers," said Green Party health spokesman Kevin Hague.
Nearly 7000 ACC clients had their privacy breached in August when an ACC staff member accidentally emailed their details to Pullar.
ACC has repeatedly refused to tell ONE News how many of those claimants are being offered payments or how much.
One client expecting compensation from this breach also had his privacy breached last year. According to a letter from ACC, obtained by ONE News, the corporation paid him $10,000 in compensation. Over the last seven-and-a-half years ACC has paid more than $185,000 in compensation for 32 privacy breaches. That is $5,800 per settlement on average.
Those considered to have sensitive claims are most likely to be eligible for compensation. If ACC made its average payment to every one of 250 sensitive claimants, the bill would amount to almost $1.45 million.
ACC Minister Judith Collins told ONE News compensation is a matter for ACC.
"It's an operational matter."
Asked if she should take an interest given that it is a potentially very expensive operational matter, Collins repeated, "Well actually it's an operational matter."

© 2012 Television New Zealand Ltd

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/acc-breach-victims-could-get-thousands-in-compo-4937772

'Pay as you go' ACC model short sighted – Banks

An article from the National Business Review by Caleb Allison

ACT leader John Banks says pay-as-you-go for ACC may save money now but future generations will have to pick up the tab.
ACC is now a fully funded model whereby the corporation builds up enough cash reserves to cover existing and potential future claims.
Labour is advocating a return to pay as you go, which means ACC only needs enough income to cover a year's worth of claims, plus a little extra for unexpected costs.
The plan would see levies go down by 20% to 25%, Labour says.
However, Mr Banks says claiming the pay as you go model would reduce levies is a false economy.
"The costs remain the same, but its tomorrow's levy payers that are forced to pick up the tab," he says.
The model does not adequately factor in the risk that some people's injuries require lifetime support from ACC, meaning the costs are transferred to future generations of levy payers, Mr Banks says.
"The best strategy is to open up ACC to real competition so customers can punish bad service by voting with their feet."
National is not ruling out abandoning the fully funded model, with ACC Minister Judith Collins saying "no decisions have been made".

Copyright 2012 National Business Review

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/pay-you-go-acc-model-short-sighted-banks-ca-121576

Questions to Minister

10. KEVIN HAGUE (Green) to the Minister for ACC: Will she return ACC to the pay-as-you-go funding model, outlined in the Green Party’s ACC Rehabilitation Plan and emailed to her this morning, and are there any points in the plan she will not consider implementing?



Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister for ACC) : I have not yet considered the member’s ideas, but whatever outcome we arrive at regarding funding will need to be affordable and responsible, although no formal decision has yet been made on any changes to ACC’s funding model. This Government does not want to burden future generations of New Zealanders with the cost of injuries that occur today as well as the cost of their own injuries.
Kevin Hague: Will she implement another point in the plan and ensure that medical assessments are undertaken by practitioners who are independent of the corporation, something that was also recommended in the last major review of ACC, undertaken by Judge Trapski in 1994?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: As I have stated before, I have not yet had the opportunity to consider the member’s ideas, but I am happy to look at them and to discuss them with him.
Kevin Hague: Will she consider another point in the plan, also recommended by Judge Trapski: introducing an ACC ombudsman who would investigate the abuses of process that have characterised the culture of disentitlement in ACC over the last couple of years?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: As I have said, I have not had the opportunity yet to consider the member’s ideas, but I am happy to discuss them with him.
Kevin Hague: Will she also consider another point in the plan: auditing the service delivery model at the corporation against the five Woodhouse principles; and is she prepared to work with the Green Party on her review of ACC?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: As previously stated, I have not had the opportunity yet to consider the member’s ideas, but I am happy to discuss those with him.

11. ANDREW LITTLE (Labour) to the Minister for ACC: On how many occasions, and for what periods of time on each occasion, did she meet with or have discussions with the ACC Chairman or Chief Executive, including about the matter of the mass privacy breach involving Bronwyn Pullar, between 13 March and 19 March when that matter was referred to the Police by way of formal complaint?



Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister for ACC) : The Chief Executive of ACC texted me on Tuesday, 13 March that there was a story in the Dominion Post. He subsequently spoke to me to advise that ACC was investigating the matter and he would keep me informed. I met the chair of the ACC board and the Chief Executive of ACC in Auckland on Wednesday, 14 March. The focus of that meeting was the 6,700 claimants whose privacy had been breached. On Friday, 16 March, the report from ACC was provided to me when I was in Auckland—the same day it was publicly released. I had my regular meeting with the Chief Executive of ACC, the Department of Labour, and officials on Monday, 19 March, which commenced at 4.15 p.m. I do not know whether that was before or after the final police complaint was signed.
Andrew Little: Does she accept that her answer to question No. 12 last Thursday that “The 16 March report clearly states, on page 3, that the matter was referred to police on 13 March …” is wrong, in light of both the 16 March report itself, which actually states: “The police were contacted regarding the meeting with the client in December …”, and a statement from the police last Thursday confirming that the matter was not referred to them until Monday, 19 March?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: The member is wrong. The report itself at 6.5 says that “The Privacy Commissioner was advised of the breach.” It then goes on at 7.0 to say that “The police were contacted regarding the meeting with the client in December and the threat made.” Quite clearly, that is a referral. It is not saying, and I did not say, that a written complaint had been signed and laid.
Andrew Little: Does she accept that the term “referral” means to hand over for consideration, investigation, or decision, and that the term “contact” does not mean handing something over? And does she understand that the police report last Thursday stated that the matter was referred to them by way of a formal complaint on 19 March?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: No.
Andrew Little: What information did she become aware of between 13 March and 19 March that saw the 1 December meeting change from being regarded as a privacy matter on 13 March to being a potential criminal matter justifying a police complaint on 19 March?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I cannot answer that question, because the referral was made by the Chief Executive of ACC. It was not referred to me, and I was not party to any discussions with the police.
Andrew Little: At what point did she become aware that what was originally thought of as a privacy matter was going to the police by way of a formal complaint as a potentially criminal matter?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: The best information I have is that after the matter was actually signed, which was on Monday, 19 March. The other information I have is quite clear in the report on 16 March from ACC, which says: “The police were contacted regarding the meeting with the client in December and the threat made.” I do not think even Mr Little would not realise that when it says “threat made” that is clearly referring to a criminal matter; otherwise, it would not have gone to the police. The privacy matter was actually referred to the Privacy Commissioner at 6.5 of the same report.
Andrew Little: Is not the truth behind this whole affair that she wanted to cause maximum embarrassment to Michelle Boag, which is why an unusual but otherwise innocent meeting was twisted into something criminal, and a personal communication from Michelle Boag was leaked to the media from her office?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: No.

Time to abandon full funding of ACC

A press release from the ACC Futures Coalition

The ACC Futures Coalition today welcomed the news that the two major political parties are thinking about the future of the full funding regime at ACC.
“Full funding is a necessary mechanism for private insurers to ensure that they have enough money to cover the cost of current liabilities,” said ACC Futures Coalition spokesperson Hazel Armstrong. “It has never been appropriate for a public agency such as ACC which also has a welfare focus.”
“The full funding regime has been used as a stick to beat up ACC and create a false sense of financial crisis. The previous Minister claimed that the scheme was practically insolvent, because it was behind in meeting the targets for full funding. This was largely due to the scheme’s funds taking a hit in global financial crisis, but even then the scheme was delivering a surplus.”
“The ACC Futures Coalition supports a shift away from full funding to a pay-as-you-go scheme supported by reserves sufficient to withstand a crisis," said Ms. Armstrong. “We think it will take more work to refine the model but it will be an important step if the politicians can accept that principle needs to change.”
“A move to pay-as-you-go should also reduce the pressure on levies. We would not like to speculate as to what that might mean in practice, but there is no doubt that the artificial targets created by the full funding regime has contributed to the fluctuating levies of recent years,” concluded Ms. Armstrong.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1206/S00253/time-to-abandon-full-funding-of-acc.htm

Premiums may drop in ACC rethink

An article from the Dominion Post by Vernon Small

ACC is in line for a major shake-up, with the two major parties eyeing changes that could see premiums plunge by up to 25 per cent.
Labour is rethinking its ACC policy, and could scrap the fully funded model to revert to a "pay as you go" approach – and yesterday ACC Minister Judith Collins refused to rule out a similar move.
During last year's levy review, the Cabinet agreed to "a review of the funding policy for the ACC accounts and the reasons for the fluctuations in the projections of the ACC's accounts".
Ms Collins said ministers were looking at the funding policy "which could include the stability of the scheme, good process for levy setting and the impact on the economy".
"We're not ruling out anything at this stage."
Labour leader David Shearer said a possible change had not yet been discussed by caucus. But the party's ACC spokesman, Andrew Little, said it was time for a public debate about funding options, with recent controversy highlighting ACC's overemphasis on lowering costs rather than meeting claimants' needs.
Under full funding the corporation builds up reserves to cover the current and future costs of existing claims, and is aiming to reach that goal by 2019. Under a pay-as-you-go approach, it would need only enough income in a year to cover annual claims, plus a possible buffer for unexpected costs or disasters.
Mr Little said his "back of the envelope" calculation was that levies could be cut by 20 per cent to 25 per cent if there was a move away from full funding. That could see the average levy per motor vehicle drop by about $80.
It could also free up billions of dollars for the Government to invest elsewhere, but it is more likely the existing reserves would remain with ACC.
Mr Little said his personal view was that it should retain its reserves. "It was always expected ACC would build reserves to enable it to meet ... a major civic disaster," he said.
"ACC will still need to have a healthy reserve fund, and it probably has it now."
Mr Little said the pressure for full funding "may contradict the requirement to treatment, compensation and rehabilitation; that might be a contradiction that we need to address".
"It seems to me it is the demands of full funding that lead to the sort of directives from a minister and the conduct of the board and the corporation that leads to the way some long-term claimants are treated and the way that serious and complex claims are being handled."
He had received an "avalanche" of complaints, along the lines of whistleblower Bronwyn Pullar, about the way claimants were treated. "Bronwyn Pullar is a symptom of a significant problem."
ACC's annual report showed it had targeted total claims costs of $3.1b but had undershot that with total claims of $2.6b. It had also exceeded its target of reducing long-term weekly compensation claims by 1150, achieving a cut of 1543.
Its 2011 annual report showed net assets of $17.8b including reserves of $16.6b. Its total outstanding claims liability was $24.5b. Its assets are forecast to reach $24b by the end of this month, against liabilities of $28.5b.

© 2012 Fairfax New Zealand Ltd

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7125792/Premiums-may-drop-in-ACC-rethink

Call for balance in ACC leadership

A press release from the ACC Futures Coalition

The ACC Futures Coalition today called upon the Minister of ACC to seize the opportunity presented by the recent clear out of members of the ACC Board to restore some balance to the leadership of the corporation.
“The past few years have demonstrated the danger of viewing ACC as simply another insurance company and stuffing the board with people who only understand the bottom line,” said Hazel Armstrong, convenor of the ACC Futures Coalition. “The books may have looked good but public confidence in ACC has been dramatically undermined as a culture of disentitlement and exclusions dominated.”
“The Minister now has the opportunity with ACC Chair John Judge was stepping down and two other board members going to appoint a board that reflects the range of interests in ACC,” said Ms. Armstrong, “We accept that there is a need for financial expertise and business interests to be on the board but other interests need to be represented too.”
“We definitely need union and claimant representation . it was a grave mistake by the previous Minister to remove people with the expertise of Ross Wilson and Wayne Butston. However, health professionals and those with expertise in areas such as injury prevention and rehabilitation should also be considered. A broad base is required.”
“A new board should then make sure that it appoints a Chief Executive with a public service background,” said Ms. Armstrong. “ACC is a public sector agency with an obligation to serve the public and meet the public accountability that goes with the territory. We need someone who understands that, and a leader from a private sector insurance background just doesn’t have the right grounding.”
“ACC has had a chequered history in chief executives over the last decade or so, and those that have done best have been those, such as Jan White, who have that public sector experience. That is the kind of person the board needs to look to,” concluded Ms. Armstrong.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1206/S00232/call-for-balance-in-acc-leadership.htm

Money blinds ACC to principles

An article from the New Zealand Herald by Tapu Misa

ACC Minister Judith Collins says the Government wants to restore public trust and confidence in ACC. This comes in the wake of the Bronwyn Pullar affair, which saw the ritual sacrificing of several ACC heads last week, including chairman John Judge.
But maybe it's ACC that needs to trust more. As former National Party president Michelle Boag argued on 60 Minutes last week, ACC's culture problem is that "they treat all their clients as potential fraudsters".
"They sometimes refuse to accept the facts about people," she said. "They are constantly trying to disallow people. I know there are people who rort the system, we see that all the time, but not everybody is rorting the system.
"And when you look at the fact they'd spent nine years trying to get Bronwyn [Pullar] to work fulltime when she can't - look at the man hours involved in that. Look at the effort."
They sound a lot like Work and Income. Claimants and their advocates have long complained about ACC's culture of "disentitlement" and a "faceless, uncaring corporation".
In 2010, the Herald received about 400 complaints from claimants who felt they'd been unfairly denied coverage; many of them had their claims reversed on appeal.
But, ironically, the most telling blow has been struck by a former National Party activist and her friend Boag. Pullar is a serious adversary, even with a brain injury. A former businesswoman, she seems as obsessive and distrustful as anyone would be who's been consumed by a protracted war with a Government behemoth.
She keeps records of everything; she uses sophisticated software to show who accesses her ACC file and how often. And she records meetings and holds on to the files of thousands of ACC claimants sent to her in error.
She seems to have good reasons for her lack of trust given email correspondence in which an ACC staffer she'd never met described her as having a "narcissistic personality disorder" and wrote that she'd "fleeced ACC for 7 years".
In a clear breach of ethics, he'd discussed Pullar with an assessor who was supposed to be independent, and accessed her file multiple times despite being taken off her case.
Both Pullar and Boag have copped harsh criticism. But however clumsily they pursued Pullar's case, and whatever the merits of her claim, the real issue, as the Employment Law Experts group argues, "is the many thousands of claimants who are treated like Bronwyn Pullar, or worse. Many of those people become worn down by the ACC 'machine' to the point where they just give up ... When broken people languish on sickness benefits for years and years because they can't get the help they need, we all lose, both economically and from a humanitarian point of view."
That Pullar, with her high-powered connections, has had to resort to increasingly desperate measures, shows how hard it is for most claimants to make any headway.
"It's very complex," Pullar told 60 Minutes reporter Melanie Read. "It's a medical-legal argument and unless you are physically and mentally, emotionally and financially able to fight it, you won't win."
Judith Collins promises a culture change but it's not clear how different her culture will be from her predecessor's as minister, Nick Smith.
Before he became a casualty of Pullar's nine-year war with ACC, Smith had gone to a lot of trouble to convince everyone that ACC was so broken and broke that it needed urgent and radical surgery.
That seemed to involve carving off the best bits of ACC to feed a ravenous insurance industry, and cutting genuine claimants off at the knees (if they still had any). As one amputee found, not even the loss of a limb spared her from being referred to in derogatory terms and treated shabbily.
As a senior ACC manager noted in a leaked presentation, a pendulum swing since 2009 under the current Government and board leadership had seen a focus on "value for money and where we could achieve savings".
John Key told TV3's The Nation at the weekend that John Judge had done everything the Government had asked of him. He'd presided over a corporation that banked a surplus in excess of $3.5 billion in 2010/11.
So it doesn't seem likely that anything will change. Collins' comments about privacy and information security being top priorities for ACC, and the need for staff to use more appropriate language in their communications, seem almost willfully off-beam.
It's clear that ACC's issues arise from a fundamental disconnection between the philosophy that underpinned its original social intent - for which we New Zealanders gave up our right to sue - and the commercial creature it has become.
In a speech last year, Sir Owen Woodhouse, the architect of the accident compensation scheme, argued that the ACC's original purpose was being ignored "by those who imagine the ACC is merely commercial insurance under another name".
ACC and the principles that underpinned it had unanimous support when it was created in 1974. If we are to abandon its social welfare intent for a commercial one, it should be a matter for national debate.

© 2012 APN Holdings NZ Ltd

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10813637