Funding to Māori Health Providers 2017/18 to 2021/22

This report shows information on funding to Māori health providers by the Ministry of Health (the Ministry) and District Health Boards (DHBs) for the period 2017/18 to 2021/22. This report follows on from our reports in 2017, 2021 and 2022 on the same topic and is part of our monitoring of Whakamaua: Māori Health Action Plan 2020-2053.

Highlights include:

• funding to Māori health providers by the Ministry of Health and District Health Boards was $456.6 million in 2021/22, an increase of $149.6 million (or 48.7%) since 2017/18 (see Table 1)
   
• although funding to Māori health providers is increasing, it remains a small part of Vote Health, remaining near 2 percent between 2017/18 and 2021/22
   
• the Ministry has begun measuring Other types of funding not included in the figures above. These are: Māori Provider Development Scheme, Māori primary health organisations, Māori general practices, for Hauora Māori Scholarships, and payments for the delivery of COVID-19 services. These payments increased by $277.3 million between 2017/18 and 2021/22, or 331.8 percent. This is higher than the increase in Vote Health during the same time (30.4%)

Measuring Other types of funding is subject to large fluctuations particularly funding to Māori PHOs. The fluctuations are due to new PHOs being created, closures and amalgamation of PHOs; and general practices moving between PHOs. Because of this, Table 1 may be a more consistent way to measure changes in funding to Māori health providers.