ACC expects to slice 1500 more from long-term scheme

The Accident Compensation Corporation expects to cut 1500 people from its long-term compensation scheme over the next year.

ACC has been under fire for allegedly pressuring doctors to write medical reports to get patients off the scheme.

Over the past five years, the number of people on compensation for more than 12 months fell from 28,926 to 14,518, ACC said in its annual report to Parliament yesterday.

Chief executive Garry Wilson told Parliament's transport and industrial select committee he expected that number to fall further.

"Of the folk we've got there now - the 14,000 - we're a lot more comfortable that we have got a far more genuine pool," he said.

"It could come down further ... our target this year is to take 1500 from that long-term group."

Chairman David Caygill said criticism of ACC in a series of Sunday Star-Times stories was thought to relate to "a period of time that has passed".

The newspaper reported that doctors were blacklisting some ACC case managers, who were seeking biased medical assessments to get patients off the scheme.

Mr Caygill said he had yet to see complaints made to the newspaper, thought to number more than 100.



Mr Wilson said customer satisfaction surveys were an "all time high" of 84 per cent.

- NZPA