Birth injuries not yet covered by ACC w/ Jan Logie: September 17, 2021

This morning, Ilena spoke to Green Party MP Jan Logie about their open letter to the Minister for ACC, Carmel Sepuloni, asking for birth injuries to be covered by ACC. Currently, injuries such as vaginal tears are not covered by ACC. Neither are injuries to the baby such as cerebral palsy through lack of oxygen. 

On a whole, women receive far less compensation from ACC annually than men - almost a billion dollars less per year. For wāhine Māori, the difference in compensation is even wider, as Māori women tend to have more injuries than Pākehā and are less likely to be referred for an ACC claim by a healthcare professional. 

Jan talked about the legal challenges of having birth injuries covered by ACC and the government’s response.