KEY POINTS:
The Canterbury District Health Board is owed more than $100,000 by non-New Zealand residents who have given birth at its facilities.
Almost 30 women not eligible for public health care in New Zealand have given birth in Canterbury hospitals in the past year.
The CDHB says there were 27 non-eligible deliveries between July 2006 and August 2007. Nineteen non-eligible women who had used hospital birthing facilities still owe money. In all, the health board is owed $111,000.
The DHB says there is a number of people who qualify for publicly funded healthcare besides New Zealand citizens and residents. They include long-term work permit holders, Australians living in New Zealand permanently and refugees.
- Newstalk ZB
