Private health insurers in Australia are facing rising costs due to prolonged hospital stays for patients experiencing severe post-COVID symptoms. Analysis reveals nearly half a million hospital stays exceeding $10,000 in 2023, with long COVID cases adding to the financial burden. Experts warn that the lasting effects of COVID-19 continue to strain the health system and highlight the need for better understanding and treatment options.
Private health insurers are increasingly concerned about long and intensive hospital stays for patients suffering severe post-COVID symptoms including pneumonia, delirium and muscle wastage, as researchers warn the disease continues to place immense strain on Australia’s health system .
Another case saw a woman spend three months in hospital with severe complications from spinal fusion surgery to treat lower back pain, costing her insurer $343,950. A further 13 claims related to complications from spinal fusion surgery cost more than $180,000 despite the procedureThe analysis by Private Health Australia, the peak body representing health funds, also found insurers continued to pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars to patients in hospitals with serious symptoms of long COVID.
Professor Martin Hensher, a health economist at the University of Tasmania’s Menzies Institute for Medical Research, said that while the high claims represented the most extreme cases of post-COVID symptoms, they were a reminder of the significant burden of COVID-19 on individuals and the health system.“This is an illness that didn’t exist five years ago … it’s additional demand on the system,” Hensher said.
Professor Steven Faux, who runs the long COVID clinic at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, said he recently had a patient in her 90s who contracted COVID in June but could never clear it, returning to hospital several times because she kept getting superinfections.
LONG COVID HEALTH INSURANCE HOSPITAL STAY AUSTRALIA HEALTH SYSTEM
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