However, within three years, her knee gave out and she needed a replacement - but had to wait more than a year.
Those who choose to maintain their insurance can face massive costs.
Consider the case of one Tauranga woman with an ongoing medical condition who is paying more than $800 per month for health insurance to cover her and her husband. She says their premium increased every year and jumped about $100 this year after she turned 70 and her husband turned 75.
It is clear such a high monthly bill will be out of reach for many retirees on a fixed income. It also reinforces the view that New Zealanders are having to rely too heavily on a public health system that is already under intense pressure.
This worrying trend raises serious questions about who will pay the medical bills of our post-World War II baby-boomers as they enter retirement.
Health Funds Association statistics for the quarter ending March 2015 show 150,386 New Zealanders aged 65 and over have insurance, only 24.7 per cent of the population of that age, based on the 2013 Census.
In 2013, it was reported only 29.9 per cent of New Zealanders had medical insurance compared with 32.5 per cent in June 2008. By comparison 54.9 per cent of Australians had health insurance, and 84.3 per cent of Americans were covered for medical costs.
Health insurance coverage is much higher in Australia and the US and continues to grow as a percentage of the population in those two countries while it is falling steadily in New Zealand.
Yet hundreds of Tauranga's elderly are already languishing in pain, unable to get on to hospital waiting lists for a replacement hip or knee operation because they cannot be seen by a specialist.
Figures released by Labour show 1415 patients were declined their first consultation with a hospital orthopaedic specialist last year. The number of denials had increased from 285 the year before.
The information supplied to Labour covered 21 hospital services that involved specialist consultations. Nine showed an improved trend and 12 a worsening trend in the three years to the end of 2014.
If more over-65s have health insurance it will take pressure off the public health system - but it needs to be affordable.
New Zealand First has put forward an Affordable Healthcare Bill that appears to tackle the issue.
The bill has two main features:
Removal of fringe benefit tax on employer-paid health insurance premiums and a 25 per cent rebate, up to a maximum of $500 a year, for SuperGold cardholders.
It seems like a a logical solution and one that needs to be considered with some urgency.
Something needs to be done to address the fact that New Zealand public healthcare will soon be under enormous financial pressure as the population ages and proportionally fewer people can contribute taxes.
What do you think?
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