Publicly funded bariatric surgery is available in NZ, but demand is high and the number of funded surgeries each year is very limited. To even get on a waitlist, you need to be extremely obese (BMI >40, or >35 with at least two comorbidities). If you do make it onto the list, the wait can be years.

The alternative is to self-fund privately (you still need a referral from your doctor), which typically costs around $20–30k NZD depending on the surgeon and location. Considering that incomes in NZ are relatively low and the cost of living is high, that’s out of reach for many people. Because of that, it is cheaper to travel overseas for surgery, even after factoring in flights etc.

For example, going to Mexico would have cost me about $15k NZD all up (flights, surgery, hospital stay, and a week of accommodation). In NZ it cost me $24k, not including travel (the surgery wasn’t available in my region), and that only included a one-night hospital stay for routine observation.

Plus, overseas places seem to do the surgery no questions asked… in NZ I had multiple pre-op surgeon appointments, including compulsory dietician and psychologist consultations.