Uptick in private hospital care as lockdowns end

Tuesday, 23 February 2021

Uptick in private hospital care as lockdowns end
New data shows patient numbers seeking care in private hospitals were slowly beginning to bounce back
toward the end of 2020 after COVID-19 restrictions limited elective surgery, but treatment episodes are still
down compared to the same time in 2019.

The latest data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) showed a 24 percent increase
in episodes of care from the June to December 2020 quarters, illustrating a return to more 'normal' levels.

However, numbers were still impacted by shut downs in Victoria and short-term restrictions in South
Australia.

Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) CEO Michael Roff said the sector is providing care to
patients, but is still impacted by the pandemic.

"This data shows us an increase in episodes of care in the private sector – some of which will be helping
public hospitals battle their large elective surgery waiting lists – but it is still 10 percent lower than the same
period pre-pandemic. There is still some work to be done before the sector is fully recovered."
Mr Roff said it was pleasing to see the continued uptick in Australians taking up private health insurance,
but this might change when JobKeeper ends next month.

"This continued increase is good, though it is not as high as in the September quarter. However, there may
yet be another blow for health insurance as COVID-19-related income supports are withdrawn. This
highlights the need for the Federal Government to assist households to keep their insurance by restoring
the rebate for low-income earners in the Budget.

"These households face a 'double whammy' of increased premiums and reduced rebates because every
year the value of their private health insurance rebate goes down. The Government can provide significant
relief to those families and make the rebate count again," he said.

Another way Australians could save money on their health insurance is a drop in premiums if deferred
claims are not realised.

"The APRA release shows us there is a deferred claims liability of $1.8 billion – which is money sitting in
the banks of private health insurers expected to be paid out as elective surgery and other procedures catch
up post-lockdown.

"If these claims are not made due to capacity restraints, that money should be returned to private health
insurance members via reductions in premiums. If insurers are serious about lower premiums for
Australians, they will readily agree to this," Mr Roff said.

In addition, it appears the 'harvesting' of privately insured patients in public hospital emergency
departments has dropped both over the quarter and over the 12 months to December 2020. This is good
news for public patients languishing on waiting lists that are blowing out all over the country due to COVID19 surgery restrictions.

Level 3 /11 National Circ, Barton ACT 2600. PO Box 4502, Kingston ACT 2604. [T] 02 6273 9000 [F] 02 6273 7000
[E] [W] www.apha.org.au [FB] ValuingPrivateHospitals [Twitter] @priv8hospitals
ABN 82 008 623 809

"These waiting list issues should be a wake-up call for the public hospital system to prioritise access for
public patients, not health insurance revenue. Private hospitals have already stepped up to the mark to
assist the public system during the pandemic, now that hospitals are returning to 'normal' we look forward
to seeing public hospital waiting lists reduce along with the number of private patients treated in public
hospitals."

-ENDSMedia contact: Frith Rayner, Director Communications and Marketing, 0413 971 999

The Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) is the largest peak industry body representing the private hospital and day
surgery sector. The private hospital sector treats 4.6 million patients a year, including treatment of more than a third of
chemotherapy, about 60 percent of all surgery, 60 percent of all elective musculoskeletal surgery.

Level 3 /11 National Circ, Barton ACT 2600. PO Box 4502, Kingston ACT 2604. [T] 02 6273 9000 [F] 02 6273 7000
[E] [W] www.apha.org.au [FB] ValuingPrivateHospitals [Twitter] @priv8hospitals
ABN 82 008 623 809

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