I write in response to your Official Information Act request, which we received on 25 June 2018. You requested information on maternity services for non-eligible women,
Please see the questions below.
1) How many non-resident women gave birth in hospitals run by the DHB in the past five years. Please break down numbers by year and hospital.
2) Were any non-residents billed by the DHB for the births? If so how many?
3) Of those who were billed, how many paid the bill and what was the total each year?
4) What was the cost of the most inexpensive and expensive non-resident births for the DHB in the past five years, and were those bills paid?
5) Did the DHB sue any of the non-residents for non-payment? If so what was the total sued for each year? Were any cases won and the money paid back?
6) What was the legal cost to the DHB of pursuing those birth costs?
7) Has the DHB experienced “birth tourists” as other countries do, whereby non-residents give birth in a NZ hospital in an effort to claim residency/citizenship? (Please elaborate)
8) Has the DHB ever turned away any expectant mothers because they were non-residents?
9) Have any non-residents used fake passports or identification to achieve a free birth?
10) Does the DHB run any fraud-type campaigns/hotlines to try and stamp out non-residency birth non-payments/frauds?
Our Response is below
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