How New Zealand parties differ on healthcare in the 2026 election

The biggest difference is how parties think healthcare should become easier to access.

Some want to make it cheaper to see a GP. Others put more emphasis on getting hospital waiting lists down, increasing the number of doctors and nurses, funding more medicines, or changing how healthcare is delivered.

I'll explain the main differences in everyday language, without assuming you know political terminology.

One important distinction: the 2026 election is about more than whether healthcare is publicly funded. It's also about whether you can actually get an appointment, afford the visit, and receive hospital treatment before your condition gets worse.

1. The main parties' approaches

The following is based on published 2026 policies and election positions available as at 2 November 2026. These are proposals, not guaranteed outcomes.

National

MAIN APPROACH: INCREASE CAPACITY AND MEASURE RESULTS

National's approach is largely to continue its current direction.

• Seeing a GP: Expand access through urgent-care services, after-hours care and online GP appointments. It does not support Labour's proposal for three free GP visits for everyone.
• Hospital treatment: Use both public hospitals and private hospitals to perform more operations and reduce waiting lists.
• Doctors and nurses: Increase medical training places, including through the new Waikato medical school.
• Medicines: Continue adding medicines to the publicly funded list. National reports funding 66 additional medicines, including 33 cancer treatments.

What this could mean for you: National is focusing on getting more treatment delivered using existing and additional capacity, rather than making GP visits universally free.

Labour

MAIN APPROACH: MAKE HEALTHCARE MORE AFFORDABLE

Labour puts particular emphasis on reducing the cost of everyday healthcare.

• Seeing a GP: Three free GP visits per year for everyone eligible for publicly funded healthcare, using a proposed Medicard.
• Prescriptions: Remove the $5 prescription charge from July 2027.
• Hospital treatment: Its Emergency Department Recovery Plan includes more nurses, free GP visits and free prescriptions to reduce pressure on emergency departments.
• Doctors and nurses: Help doctors buy into local GP practices and guarantee jobs for eligible New Zealand-trained graduate nurses.
• Other care: Free maternity scans and free cervical screening for eligible people.

Labour proposes paying for its health programme through a targeted capital gains tax on certain property profits.

What this could mean for you: You could save money when visiting your doctor and collecting prescriptions. Labour is also trying to improve the supply of GPs and nurses, so that affordable care is actually available.

Green Party

MAIN APPROACH: MAKE MORE HEALTHCARE FREE AND PUBLICLY FUNDED

The Greens want a more extensive expansion of publicly funded healthcare.

• Seeing a GP: Work towards free GP visits, rather than limiting free visits to three per year.
• Dental care: Expand publicly funded dental care to adults, not just children and teenagers.
• Hospital treatment: Increase investment in public healthcare and oppose relying more heavily on private hospitals to reduce waiting lists.
• Doctors and nurses: Improve staffing, pay and working conditions, including in community and rural healthcare.
• Other care: More investment in mental health, prevention and accessible healthcare for disabled people.

The Greens propose using a wealth tax to help fund their expanded healthcare programme.

What this could mean for you: You could face fewer costs when accessing healthcare, including dental care. The main question is whether the proposed additional funding and workforce would be enough to deliver the expanded services.

ACT

MAIN APPROACH: MORE CHOICE, COMPETITION AND PRIVATE-SECTOR INVOLVEMENT

ACT has a different view of how healthcare should be organised.

• Seeing a GP: Rather than promising free GP visits for everyone, ACT wants pharmacies and other qualified health professionals to provide more services.
• Hospital treatment: Make greater use of private hospitals and other providers to reduce waiting lists.
• Doctors and nurses: Allow health professionals to take on more responsibilities within their training and qualifications.
• Medicines: Gradually increase the medicines budget, with a longer-term ambition to bring New Zealand closer to Australia's level of medicines funding.
• Cancer treatment: Propose comprehensive cancer centres in Auckland and Christchurch.

ACT also supports a system with more individual choice about healthcare provision and funding.

What this could mean for you: You may have more options about where you receive treatment. However, ACT's approach places less emphasis on making all GP visits free and more on alternative providers and private-sector capacity.

New Zealand First

MAIN APPROACH: REDUCE WAITING LISTS AND EXPAND MEDICINE ACCESS

NZ First has put forward some substantial proposals aimed at people waiting for treatment.

• Seeing a GP: Make it easier for GPs to work with fewer administrative restrictions. It has not made universal free GP visits a clear 2026 commitment.
• Hospital treatment: Propose a $925 million annual Waitlist Reduction Fund. GPs would be able to use this money to arrange approved specialist appointments and operations for patients on waiting lists.
• Doctors: Aim to recruit around 2,000 additional doctors, including from overseas.
• Medicines: Propose an additional $1.3 billion for medicines and replacing Pharmac with a new medicines agency.
• Rural healthcare: Support nurse practitioner-led digital health clinics in areas where it is difficult to recruit doctors.

What this could mean for you: If you are waiting for a specialist appointment or operation, NZ First's proposed funding mechanism is particularly relevant. Its approach also places significant emphasis on recruiting doctors and expanding medicine access.

Te Pāti Māori

MAIN APPROACH: MĀORI-LED HEALTHCARE AND REDUCING HEALTH INEQUALITY

Te Pāti Māori wants Māori communities to have greater control over how healthcare is designed and delivered.

• Seeing a GP: Supports more affordable, accessible primary healthcare, including free care for lower-income whānau.
• Hospital treatment: Emphasises better access and outcomes for Māori, including through services designed around communities and whānau.
• Doctors and nurses: Supports strengthening Māori-led healthcare services and improving Māori participation in the health workforce.
• Health system structure: Wants to restore and strengthen Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority, which was abolished by the current government.
• Prevention: Greater emphasis on preventing illness and addressing issues such as housing, food security and poverty that affect health.

What this could mean for you: Its policies are particularly focused on improving healthcare access and outcomes for Māori. The party sees Māori leadership and decision-making as important to achieving that.

Opportunity Party

MAIN APPROACH: LONG-TERM PLANNING AND MORE INVESTMENT IN PRIMARY CARE

Opportunity proposes a longer-term approach to healthcare rather than major changes every three years.

• Seeing a GP: Increase investment in primary and community healthcare.
• Hospital treatment: Support a 10-year cross-party health plan, intended to give hospitals and healthcare services more predictable funding.
• Doctors and nurses: Plan medical training and workforce requirements over a longer period.
• Funding: Gradually increase public health spending towards 9% of New Zealand's GDP (the total value of goods and services produced in the country).

Opportunity also proposes free primary healthcare, dental care and mental health services for people under 30 through its Teal Card.

What this could mean for you: Its main focus is a more stable, long-term health system, with particular attention to prevention and community care.

2. Comparing the parties at a glance

This table highlights the differences that might matter most in everyday life.

Party	GP costs	Hospital waiting lists	Main priority
National	No universal free GP promise	More public and private capacity	More treatment delivered
Labour	3 free visits yearly	ED recovery and more staff	Affordable access
Greens	Free GP care	Strengthen public services	Free, publicly funded care
ACT	No universal free GP promise	More private providers	Choice and efficiency
NZ First	No clear universal free GP promise	$925m annual fund	Reduce waiting lists
Te Pāti Māori	More affordable care	Māori-led services and equity	Māori health outcomes
Opportunity	Free primary care for under-30s	Long-term health planning	Stable funding

Sources: New Zealand Medical Journal's October 2026 election analysis, party policy announcements and WhichParty's comparison. Election 2026 and health: promises, priorities and deliveryHealth Policy: Where NZ Parties Stand in 2026Labour's 2026 Election Policies

3. What should you look for when judging their promises?

Political parties can make similar-sounding promises that actually mean quite different things.

Here are five practical questions worth considering.

1. Will I be able to afford a GP appointment?

Look at whether a party promises free visits, cheaper visits or simply more appointments.

Remember that three free appointments a year is different from unlimited free appointments.

2. Will I get hospital treatment sooner?

Look for specific plans to reduce the time people wait for:

• Their first specialist appointment.
• Operations such as hip or knee replacements.
• Cancer diagnosis and treatment.
• Other planned hospital procedures.

3. Will there be enough doctors and nurses?

This is extremely important. A government can promise free appointments, but that doesn't automatically mean there will be enough doctors available to see everyone.

4. Will I have access to the medicines I need?

Pharmac decides which medicines receive government subsidies. A medicine being subsidised can make a significant difference to what you pay.

Look at which parties are promising additional medicine funding and how they intend to provide it.

5. How will they pay for their promises?

Some parties propose higher taxes to fund more healthcare. Others want to make existing funding go further or involve private providers.

It's reasonable to ask whether their plans are properly funded and whether they have enough healthcare workers to deliver them.

4. What counts as a good result?

There are already national health targets that provide useful benchmarks for judging whichever party forms the next government.

As of November 2026, the government's targets include:

Healthcare access targets

GP appointments

80%+

More than 80% of people should be able to get a general practice appointment within one week.

First specialist assessment

95%

95% of people should wait less than four months.

Planned hospital treatment

95%

95% of people should wait less than four months for elective treatment (planned operations and procedures).

Emergency departments

95%

95% of patients should be admitted, discharged or transferred within six hours.

Source: Ministry of Health, Health Targets, updated July 2026. Health targets Ngā ūnga hauora

These are targets, not guarantees that every individual will receive treatment within those times.

5. How to think about your vote

You don't need to agree with a party on every issue. You can start by identifying which healthcare problems matter most to you.

For example:

• If the cost of visiting a doctor is your biggest concern, compare Labour and the Greens particularly closely.
• If you are most concerned about hospital waiting lists, compare National, ACT and NZ First.
• If you want more healthcare delivered through the public system, look particularly at Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori.
• If you favour greater private-sector involvement and more provider choice, look at National and ACT.
• If long-term stability and planning are important, look at Opportunity.

One final point: the New Zealand Medical Journal makes an important observation in its election analysis. More funding, more free services and more hospital buildings don't necessarily translate into better healthcare unless there are enough qualified people to deliver that care. Election 2026 and health: promises, priorities and delivery

6. Where to investigate further

These are useful independent and official resources:

• Policy.nz – Compare 2026 party policies. A particularly useful place to compare specific proposals.
• WhichParty NZ – Healthcare comparison. A question-based comparison of party positions.
• Ministry of Health – Health targets. Check actual healthcare performance.
• Vote.nz. Official voting and enrolment information.

My suggestion: Rather than trying to decide which party is best overall, start with one question:

If you needed to see a GP next week, or needed an operation in a few months, what would you most want the government to do differently?

I can also help you compare Labour, National, Greens, ACT, NZ First and Te Pāti Māori in more depth, focusing specifically on what their healthcare policies would mean for an ordinary person trying to get treatment.

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