The Price of a Second Chance – What Nigel Latta’s Cancer Battle Tells Us About Health, Hope, and Insurance

When I heard Nigel Latta speak recently at an nib event, I wasn’t quite prepared for what he shared. The popular Kiwi psychologist, TV presenter and author opened up about being diagnosed with incurable gastric cancer last year.

At the time, he was told he had six to twelve months to live.

Fast-forward to now, and he’s no longer considered terminal. Why? Because of the chemotherapy and targeted treatments he’s had access to — treatments that cost up to $8,000 a week.

It was a sobering and powerful reminder that even with a public healthcare system like New Zealand’s, access to cutting-edge treatments can come down to your ability to pay — or your insurance cover.

A Kiwi Story of Grit and Recovery

Latta’s been a familiar face on our screens for years, known for his straight talk and deep dives into some of society’s hardest conversations. But this time, the story was his own. Diagnosed with a type of stomach cancer that was inoperable, he started a regime of intensive chemotherapy and targeted drugs. One of the medications, Ramucirumab, isn’t funded under Pharmac in New Zealand, and costs thousands every fortnight.

While another drug in his regime — FOLFIRI — is funded, Latta’s ability to access the full suite of recommended treatment was due in no small part to private health insurance. “It’s a lot of money,” he said, acknowledging that many Kiwis simply don’t get the same chance.

Hope, Health and the High Cost of Modern Medicine

Latta’s candid about the unfairness of the system. If you’re in the private system, you might get precision radiotherapy like SABR-2, which can target cancer cells while leaving healthy ones untouched. In the public system, your options are broader, more damaging, and sometimes less effective.

His story highlights the critical divide in cancer treatment access. It’s not just about luck, age, or fitness — it’s also about what treatments are available to you. And for many New Zealanders, that access is heavily influenced by whether they have private health insurance or not.

If the treatment that saved Latta’s life costs around $6,000–$8,000 every two weeks, that’s over $200,000 a year — a figure completely out of reach for most people without insurance support.

Want to know more about how personal insurance could help protect your future? Start here.

Perspective from the Edge

Perhaps the most powerful takeaway from Latta’s talk wasn’t about drugs or diagnoses. It was about perspective. He said that if he could swap this experience for flipping burgers and having 30 more years with his wife, he’d do it in a second.

“Almost everything that we worry about doesn’t matter,” he told RNZ’s Summer Times. “The stuff that matters is time with the people that you care about.” It’s a brutal yet beautiful truth. When your time is under threat, what matters most becomes crystal clear — not status, not money, not tweets or headlines, but the people beside you when the chips are down.

This is why resilience matters. And not the Instagrammable kind. Real resilience, as Latta says, is “getting out of bed in the morning and having some Weet-Bix” even when life’s falling apart.

What This Means for the Rest of Us

Latta’s story may have a happy chapter now, but it’s also a clear call to action. We don’t know what’s around the corner — health can shift in an instant. Insurance won’t stop something like cancer from happening, but it can give you options if it does. Options for treatment, for recovery, and for time.

If this has you thinking about your own setup, it’s worth taking a moment to get started and explore what cover might make a difference in your life. Because sometimes, the difference between hope and despair is simply access.

And if you’re considering the role of insurance in your health journey, here’s where you can learn more about Personal Insurance.

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The information in this article is general information only and is not intended as financial, medical, health, nutritional, tax or other advice. It does not take into account any individual’s personal situation or needs. You should consider obtaining professional advice from a financial adviser and/or tax specialist, or medical or health practitioner, in relation to your own circumstances and before acting on this information.