Skip to main content
background pattern
Work and income | Te Hiranga Tangata
  • Employers
  • Providers
  • Go to MyMSD login
  • Work homepage

    • Overview

      We can help you get ready to apply and find the right job for you. We can even help you while you're working.

    • Get ready to work

      You can get training, help with CVs and cover letters, and advice for job interviews.

    • Find jobs

      Find out what jobs are available, which job is best for you and how you can plan your career.

    • Working

      Whether you've just started a job or need some help at work, we've got your back.

    • Lost your job

      We'll help you get ready to find a new job and support you while you're between jobs.

    • Start your own business

      Get help to plan and set up a successful business or be a self-employed contractor.

  • Benefits and payments homepage

    • Overview

      Take a look at the range of benefits and payments we have available.

    • Not working

      Redundancy, health condition or disability or another reason you can’t work

    • Living expenses

      Food, school costs, power, accommodation or other living expenses you need help with

    • Relationship changes

      You’ve had a relationship break-up, family breakdown or violent relationship end

    • Health and Disability

      Counselling, prescription and GP costs, medical alarms and other costs we can help with

    • Seniors

      Travelling overseas, how to apply, payment rates and dates, overseas pensions, income and other info for Seniors

    • Caring

      Caring for someone else’s child or someone with a health condition, injury or disability

    • Urgent or unexpected costs

      Dental, glasses, car repairs, fridge, washing machine, funeral or other urgent costs you need help with

    • Children

      Childcare, school uniforms, stationery, having a baby and other costs if you have children

    • Moving to New Zealand

      Payments you can get from us, settling into NZ, overseas pensions and more.

    • Benefits and forms

      A-Z list of benefits, forms, benefit rates

  • On a benefit homepage

    • Overview

      Check out what you need to do when you're getting a benefit or other payment from us.

    • Something's changed

      Address, contact details, overseas travel, childcare, relationship or anything else that’s changed.

    • Income

      Declare income and income deduction tables

    • Childcare

      Change in your childcare situation, continue childcare payments, cohort entry schools and other childcare information

    • Going overseas

      Travelling or moving overseas may affect your payments.

    • Re-apply, review or renew

      Re-apply for a payment, review circumstances, renew medical certificate and more

    • Payments

      Check or stop your payments, payment cards and other information

    • Debt

      Check your debt, repayments and other debt information

    • Rights and responsibilities

      Our commitment to you,  obligations, complaints, benefit fraud and more

  • Housing homepage

    • Overview

      Find out how we can help you with housing.

    • Nowhere to stay

      Get help if you have nowhere to stay right now.

    • Find a house

      Find out where to look for private housing, or apply for public (social) housing.

    • Living in your home

      Get help with accommodation costs, and advice on any housing issues and public housing tenancies.

    • Moving house

      Find out how we can help if you’re moving house.

    • Other languages

      Read some of our housing information in other languages.

  • Go to the Work and Income home page
When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
  • MyMSD login
  • Online Services
    • Apply online
    • Apply for NZ Super
    • MyMSD
    • Check what you might get
    • Kimi Mahi Mai - Find a Job
    • List a job vacancy
    • Help with online services
  • Work
    • Get ready to work
    • Find jobs
    • Working
    • Lost your job
    • Start your own business
  • Benefits and payments
    • Carers
      • Caring for someone with a health condition, injury or disability
      • Caring for a child with a disability
      • Caring for someone else's child
    • Children
      • Childcare
      • Having a baby
      • School costs
      • Caring for someone else's child
    • Emergencies
      • Civil Defence Payment
      • Rural Assistance Payment
      • Enhanced Taskforce Green
    • Health and disability
      • Vehicle modification
      • Contraception
      • Counselling
      • Dental treatment
      • Glasses
      • House modification
      • Medical alarms
      • Prescriptions and health practitioner costs
      • Residential care
      • Travel costs
    • Living expenses
      • Heating and power bills
      • Managing your money
      • Public transport fares
    • You're not working
      • Redundancy
      • Health condition or disability
      • Fired or left
      • Deported to NZ
      • Released from prison
    • Relationships
      • Break-up
      • Family breakdown
      • Violent relationships
    • Seniors
      • Find out if you can get NZ Super or Veteran's Pension
      • NZ Superannuation
      • Veteran's Pension
      • SuperGold Card
      • Other payments
    • Urgent costs
      • Food
      • Accommodation
      • Power, gas and water bills or heating
      • Dental treatment
      • Glasses
      • Whiteware
      • Medical costs
      • House repairs and maintenance
      • Car repairs
      • Bereavement
      • Fire or theft
    • Moving to NZ
      • Overseas pensions
  • On a benefit
    • Changes and income
      • Income
      • Change housing details
      • Relationships
      • Change bank account
      • Child enters or leaves your care
      • Change contact details
    • Going overseas
      • On a benefit
      • NZ Super or Veteran's Pension
    • Re-apply, review or renew
      • Re-apply for Jobseeker Support
      • Re-apply for Sole Parent Support
      • Re-apply for TAS
      • Renew medical certificate or information
      • Review of circumstances and annual income
    • Obligations
      • Jobseeker Support obligations
      • Supported Living Payment obligations
      • Sole Parent Support obligations
      • When you don’t meet your obligations
    • Payments
      • Check your payments
      • Changes to your payments
      • Money management for youth clients
      • Stop your payments
      • Stop your childcare payments
      • Payment cards
    • Debt
      • Repay debt while on benefit or pension
      • Repay debt if not on benefit or pension
    • Childcare
      • Change in circumstances
      • Reviewing Childcare Subsidy payments
      • Confirm OSCAR payments every term
      • Stop childcare
      • Childcare absences
      • Move to OSCAR
      • Extending childcare
    • Having another child
    • Arrest warrants
    • Your rights and responsibilities
      • Your obligations
      • Have someone act on your behalf
      • Fraud and investigations
      • Our commitment to you
  • Housing
    • Nowhere to stay
      • Emergency housing
      • Escaping family violence
      • Leaving prison
    • Find a house
      • Who can get public housing
      • Apply for public housing
      • Waiting for public housing
      • Accepting a public housing offer
    • Living in your home
      • Housing costs
      • Living in public housing
      • Staying in emergency housing
    • Moving house
      • Bond Grant
      • Accommodation Security Cover Grant
      • Accommodation Costs in Advance Grant
      • Moving Costs Grant
      • Tenancy Costs Cover
      • Transition to Alternative Housing Grant
      • Transfer to another public housing property
    • Other languages
  • Benefits, rates and forms
    • A-Z benefits
    • Benefit rates
    • Forms
    • Income and cash asset limits
  • Providers
    • Housing providers
      • Property owners and landlords
      • Emergency housing suppliers
      • Transitional housing providers
      • Public housing providers
    • Getting payments from us
      • Register as a supplier
      • Ways you can be paid
      • Manage your supplier details
      • Refund money you owe
    • Activity in the Community projects
    • Health and disability practitioners
      • Guides and forms
      • Roles
      • Assisting people into work
      • Medical certificates
      • Health and disability related benefits
      • Designated health practitioners second opinions
      • Medical appeals
    • Childcare assistance
      • Registering your childcare service
      • Become an approved OSCAR provider
      • How we can help you
      • Tell us when things change
      • Payment schedules
      • Contacting us if you're a childcare or OSCAR provider
    • Advocates
    • Employment and training providers
    • Forms
  • About Work and Income
    • Contact us
      • Phone us
      • Our locations
      • International Services
      • Overseas pension agencies
      • Veterans' contacts
      • Deaf, hard of hearing, speech impairment
      • Other languages
      • Service Express
      • Report a suspected fraud
    • Our services
      • Our commitment to you
      • Cheap as data
      • Documents to provide when you apply
      • Appointments
      • About International Services
      • Words we use
      • Become a contracted provider
      • Information for trespassed clients
    • Our privacy notice
      • Collecting your information
      • Using your information
      • Sharing your information
      • Respecting your information
      • Managing your information
    • Feedback and complaints
      • Making a complaint
      • Review of a decision
      • Review of a medical decision
      • Online surveys
    • News
    • Careers at Work and Income
  • About this site
    • Accessibility
    • Privacy, disclaimer and copyright information
    • Online security
  • Employers
    • Recruitment
      • List a vacancy
      • Hire an LSV graduate
      • Hire disabled people or people with health conditions
      • Shortlisting
      • Pre-employment drug testing
      • Make an employment offer
      • Hiring migrant workers
    • Extra support and training
      • Flexi-wage
      • Apprenticeship Boost
      • Mana in Mahi
      • Skills for Industry
      • Support once your employee starts work
      • Mainstream programmes
      • Modifications to your workplace
    • Industry partnerships
    • Redundancy support
    • Emergencies and adverse events
    • Employee debt
  1. Home
  2. Benefits and payments
  3. Health and disability
  4. Residential care

WARNING: Your device is running Android version 7 or below. From September, you may experience issues accessing our website. We recommend using the Firefox browser.

Benefits and payments

  • Carers
  • Children
  • Emergencies
  • Health and disability
    • Vehicle modification
    • Contraception
    • Counselling
    • Dental treatment
    • Glasses
    • House modification
    • Medical alarms
    • Prescriptions and health practitioner costs
    • Residential care
    • Travel costs
  • Living expenses
  • You're not working
  • Relationships
  • Seniors
  • Urgent costs
  • Moving to NZ

Residential care

If you need full-time care in a hospital, rest home or residential treatment programme, you may be able to get help to pay for some of the cost of your care.

Your situation

The information here is just a guide. What payment you qualify for will depend on your individual circumstances.

Residential Care Subsidy

If you need to be in a rest home or private hospital indefinitely, a Residential Care Subsidy may be able to pay for some of your care. It will depend on your and your partner's assets and income.


Residential Care Loan

If you need to be in a rest home or private hospital indefinitely and want to keep your own home, a Residential Care Loan may be able to pay for some of your care.

Residential Support Subsidy

If you're under 65 and need to be in residential care, a private hospital or disability residential services, a Residential Support Subsidy may be able to pay for some of your care.


Residential Care Subsidy

If you're 50-64 and need to be in a rest home or private hospital indefinitely, a Residential Care Subsidy may be able to pay for some of your care instead of a Residential Support Subsidy. It depends on your situation.


Community Costs Payment

You may be able to get a Community Costs Payment if you:

  • are getting a Residential Support Subsidy
  • need to be in a residential treatment programme for less than 39 weeks
  • still have costs such as rent and childcare to pay.

If some of your care is being paid for by a Residential Care Loan or a Residential Support Subsidy, you may also be able to get a Disability Allowance to help cover costs such as medical fees, prescriptions, etc.

Disability Allowance

If you're getting a benefit and your partner is in residential care, or has been in a public hospital for over 13 weeks, you may be able to get a Special Disability Allowance to help with the extra costs of your partner being in care.

Special Disability Allowance

If you've lived in a private hospital or residential home for 6 months or more, and are now setting yourself up independently in the community, you may be able to get a Re-establishment Grant.

Re-establishment Grant

Call us to talk about your situation

  • 0800 999 727 - if you need to be in a rest home or private hospital indefinitely.
  • 0800 999 779 - if you need care for rehabilitation, mental health, an intellectual disability or chronic health condition.

Related

Residential care information from the Ministry of Health

How we can help

  • Benefits and payments
  • Work
  • On a benefit
  • Housing

Online services

  • Check what you might get
  • Find work
  • Apply online
  • MyMSD
  • How to stay safe online

About

  • About Work and Income
  • About this site
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy, disclaimer and copyright

Contact us

  • Phone numbers
  • Find a service centre
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Feedback
  • Help in other languages
Go to Ministry of Social Development's website Te Kāwanatanga o Aotearoa / New Zealand Government Shielded Site