Who can get help

The government pays for the weekly cost of the medical alarm service if you have:

• ongoing or age-related health problems
• a disability caused by your health or an injury.

You must also be eligible for publicly funded healthcare.

Getting publicly funded health services

If you want to buy an alarm you need to pay for that yourself.

How to ask for government help

The help you get from government depends on your personal circumstances, for example, your income and assets.

If you’re ill or have a disability

You can apply for a Disability Allowance to cover the rental and monitoring costs of your medical alarm. When you apply you need:

• a signed medical alarm certificate from your doctor — you can ring, or visit Work and Income to pick up the form, or download it from their website
• a copy of your contract with the alarm supplier or the receipt for the installation of the alarm.

Disability Allowance — Medical Alarm Assessment Form

Most people contact Work and Income before they apply. If you get approval for a Disability Allowance to pay for your alarm, payments begin from whichever date is later:

• the day you first contacted Work and Income about it
• the date you started paying for your alarm.

Disability Allowance

After an accident or injury

If the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) is supporting you after an accident or injury, then your case owner works out what equipment you need because of your injury. This could include funding a medical alarm.

How ACC can help you: equipment

If you’re living in a retirement village

If your alarm was paid for by a Disability Allowance before you moved into the retirement village, when you move in you’ll still receive the Disability Allowance for your alarm if:

• you still need it, and
• the cost is not covered by the service fee at the retirement village.

If the cost is part of the standard service fee you’re paying to live in a retirement village, you cannot apply for a Disability Allowance to pay for it.

If you’re a veteran

If your service qualifies you, and you cannot get other government help, the Veterans’ Independence Programme helps with the cost of a medical alarm.

Contact Veterans’ Affairs to talk to a case manager about getting a medical alarm.

General support for veterans and families
Freephone: 0800 483 8372
Email: veterans@nzdf.mil.nz

Who provides medical alarms

Most people get their alarm from a supplier accredited by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). This means the supplier:

• offers agreed standards of service
• has an approved complaints process, and
• provides the alarm at a reasonable cost — usually $13 to $15 per week.

When you sign up, the supplier must give you a contract that gives details of their services and their complaints process. You can also get a copy of the Code of Practice for MSD’s accredited suppliers of monitored medical alarms.

Code of Practice for MSD’s accredited suppliers of monitored medical alarms

Accredited suppliers of medical alarms

If your alarm is not from an accredited supplier

If you want to use an alarm service that is not accredited by MSD, you need to pay for that yourself.

Further information

Contact Work and Income for more information about approved suppliers.

Contact us — phone or email

If you’re over 65, contact Senior Services at the Ministry of Social Development.
Freephone: 0800 552 002 (office hours)
Email: seniors@msd.govt.nz

If you cannot get government help

If you’re 65 or older

Your SuperGold Card offers discounts from medical alarm suppliers in some areas of NZ.

SuperGold: directory