
More in than out of healthcare system
MORE people are being admitted to Australian hospitals and receiving more treatments than ever before, a new study has shown.
An aging population, increasing prevalence of illness and advancements in medical technology are the primary reasons, the Medibank data showed.
More than 1.2million claims by members for hospital admissions and procedures in the 12 months to June 2015, and Medibank paid more than $3.47billion in benefits for these claims – an increase of 3.4 per cent on the previous financial year.
Medibank Group paid a record $5.1billion in hospital and extras benefits in 2014/15, a 4.3% increase.
“Overall, we know the costs of private healthcare are increasing,” Medibank managing director George Savvides said.
“We know Australians are going to hospital more often – the number of hospital admissions per member has grown on average 3.7 per cent every year for the last five years.”
The most common overnight hospital procedure in 2014/15 was for childbirth.
Medibank paid hospital benefits of more than $150million for approximately 20,500 childbirth-related admissions.
“I’m delighted that in the last financial year, Medibank was able to support more than 20,500 of our members as they welcomed new additions to their families,” Mr Savvides said.
Remarkably, people being checked in for rehabilitation to overcome drug dependency or mental illness exceeded recorded incidents of childbirth.
Following childbirth, the most common overnight procedures among Medibank members were rehabilitation, knee replacements, shoulder procedures and hip replacements.
The five most common same-day procedures in the twelve months to June 2015 were colonoscopy, chemotherapy, dialysis, rehabilitation and cataract surgery.
