What's new

Care and protection concerns for a child or young person

Information about care and protection concerns for a child or young person has been added to pages in the changes and reviews sections of relevant manuals.

If MSD believes any child has been, or is likely to be harmed (physically, emotionally or sexually), ill-treated, abused, neglected, deprived or MSD has concerns about the wellbeing of the child, the case must be referred to Oranga Tamariki.

This includes when a sole caregiver is remanded in custody and/or sentenced to a term of imprisonment.

See:

• Care and protection concerns for a child or young person

Introduction of 12-month prescriptions

From 1 February 2026, prescribers have had the option to write prescriptions for up to 12 months (an increase from the previous 3-6 months).

This change will reduce the number of co-payments that clients are required to make, and may also affect ongoing assistance that MSD provides to cover their prescription costs - such as Disability Allowance and Temporary Additional Support. Clients with a Community Services Card or SuperGold Card may also be affected by this change.

See:

• Disability Allowance
  • Pharmaceutical charges
  • Pharmaceutical subsidies
• Temporary Additional Support
  • Pharmaceutical subsidies
• Community Services Card
  • Assistance provided
  • Other Subsidy Cards
• SuperGold Card
  • Other Subsidy Cards

These topics have also been updated to remove out-of-date information about residency requirements.