Assisted Dying Service funding and payments

The Assisted Dying Services Notice 2021 sets out the service specifications and payment rules for remuneration of medical and nurse practitioners providing assisted dying services.

The Assisted Dying Services Notice 2021 claims five main modules, each representing a part of the service. Each module has a fixed price payment based on an estimate of the number of hours typically required to deliver that part of the service.

• Module 1: First opinion, including advice and request for Assisted Dying – paid to the attending medical practitioner (AMP).
• Module 2: Independent assessment of eligibility – paid to the independent medical practitioner (IMP).
• Module 3: Competency assessment (if required) – paid to the psychiatrist.
• Module 4: Decision about eligibility, including provisional arrangements, or ineligibility, including follow up – paid to the AMP.
• Module 5: Prescribing and administration of medication – paid to the AMP, and the attending nurse practitioner (ANP), if involved.

The Assisted Dying Section 88 Notice User Guide explains the modules and the claims process. 

Assisted Dying Services Notice 2021 (external link)

Assisted Dying Section 88 Notice User Guide (external link)

Medical and nurse practitioners can receive funding on a fee-for-service basis under the Assisted Dying Service Notice, for the parts of the service they provide.

Practitioners intending to make claims must fulfil all eligibility criteria outlined in the Assisted Dying Service Notice. These include:

• having a valid annual practising certificate
• completing the required training modules
  Ko Awatea LEARN (external link)
  healthLearn (external link)
• providing assisted dying services as outline in the Assisted Dying Service Notice
• providing services as part of a general practice, private practice; or healthcare settings.

Qualified public hospitals-based (i.e. Health New Zealand- employed) practitioners can potentially provide assisted dying services if they wish to, and as agreed with their employer, as part of their hospital-based role. In these situations, however the practitioner and the hospital cannot claim additional funding. 

Public hospitals will support applicants to have their assisted death in the hospital, where there are no other options for the person.

Practitioners employed by Health New Zealand may also provide the service as part of their private practice (i.e.outside their Health New Zealand role). In these situations, practitioners can access funding under the Assisted Dying Services Notice 2021 if they meet the eligibility requirements.

Details on eligibility requirements can be found from page 12 of the Assisted Dying Section 88 Notice User Guide.

Assisted Dying Section 88 Notice User Guide. (external link)

in some circumstances, payments are available outside of these five main modules. They ensure that assisted dying services are responsive and support the individual's needs and include:

• Obtaining clinical notes: In cases where the Attending Medical Practitioner (AMP) is not the person’s usual health practitioner, the AMP can claim funding for obtaining clinical notes and pay this to the health practitioner who provided the notes.
• Travel allowance: Practitioners in rural areas and regions with a low number of available assisted dying practitioners who travel to provide assisted dying services can be reimbursed for the actual and reasonable cost of their time and travel to support access to the service.
• Complex cases: The AMP can claim additional funding for Module 1 and Module 4 if a complex case requires more time at these parts of the process. This complexity may be related to clinical, social or cultural considerations, including providing support for whānau.
• Supporting practitioner: When a practitioner administers the medication, payment is available for a supporting practitioner to provide support and guidance (Module 5). This practitioner needs to be a registered health practitioner, such as a medical practitioner or a nurse practitioner or a nurse.

Details about the modules, additional payments and pricing are on page six of the Assisted Dying Section 88 Notice User Guide. Prices indicated are exclusive of GST.

Assisted Dying Section 88 Notice User Guide (external link)

Registering under the Assisted Dying Service Notice

To register for payments, please complete the Assisted Dying Service Notice 2021 Practitioner Request Form and send to DunedinAASupport@health.govt.nz.

• S88 Assisted Dying Notice Application Form [DOC, 269 KB]
• S88 Assisted Dying Notice Application Form [PDF, 355 KB]

Please also provide:

• proof of your bank account (for example, a deposit slip, bank statement or bank letter)
• your GST status
• a copy of your annual practising certificate.

Under the Assisted Dying Service Notice 2021 you must have a separate individual payee/provider number. The payment may be to you as the provider, your business or your practice. 

Health New Zealand will verify that you have completed the required training and that your practising certificate is current before payments are made for assisted dying services under the Assisted Dying Service Notice. Please note, this verification process may take three business days.

Receiving payments

Payments will be automatically generated from the HARP system on completion of the relevant forms required for each module. Please ensure you complete the required tick boxes in the forms relating to payments.

Further details are in the Quick guide to HARP – Assisted dying case management system, available in Ko Awatea LEARN and healthLearn

Ko Awatea LEARN (external link)
healthLearn (external link)

Payments will be made at the latest on the 22nd of each month (following or the the closest working day).

For any questions or concerns about payments, please email: AssistedDying@tewhatuora.govt.nz 

For practitioners eligible to claim travel expenses, travel allowance details can be found in the Assisted Dying Section 88 Notice User Guide.

Please note that claimable amounts are based on the rates for in-between travel; in-between travel settlement - Health New Zealand.

To claim for travel expenses, please supply a tax invoice by email AssistedDying@tewhatuora.govt.nz – whether this includes GST will depend on whether you are GST registered.

You can download and complete one of the below invoice templates (preferred) or use your own invoice templates:

• Not GST registered – Assisted dying service travel invoice template [XLSX, 26 KB]
• GST registered – Assisted dying service travel invoice template [XLSX, 26 KB]

You invoice should:

• calculate travel time to the nearest 15 minutes and charge at the rate in the Notice ($120.80 for medical and nurse practitioners and $193.02 for psychiatrists)
• calculate mileage of over 20kms at the Disability Support Services in-between travel rate ($0.63.5 per km as at 15/03/2022. Refer to Summary of the IBT Settlement - Health New Zealand
• detail the charges separately as they relate to each assisted dying case (this can be separate line items on the same invoice rather than different invoices)
• note the travel destinations, and explain the need to travel and any overnight stays where applicable
• be accompanied by GST receipts, where relevant, such as for costs of flights/public transport.

If you have any queries about what you can claim or support, please email AssistedDying@tewhatuora.govt.nz