Hips and knees lead the pack for health insurance payouts

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Dodgy joints are once again at the top of claims table, according to a recent release by Southern Cross Health Insurance.

Tuesday, October 27th 2020, 12:24PM

The not-for-profit has revealed they paid $47.9 million for knee replacements (1,800 procedures) and $45 million for hip replacements (1,900 procedures) in the 12-month period until June 30, 2020. These procedures represented 10% of the organisations $972 million of total claims.

This announcement reinforces earlier statistics from nib, which featured in the October 2020 issue of Asset magazine, around the costs related to hip and knee procedures. For the 2019 calendar year, nib paid out $37.6 million on orthopaedics (primarily hip and knee replacements), representing 21% of all claims.

When the Southern Cross claims were analysed by gender, women made 1,017 claims for single hip replacements; with men making 888 claims for the same procedure. This procedure topped the claims list for men and women.

Knee replacements came second and third respectively for women and men, with colonoscopies taking up the remaining spaces in the top three (close to 20,000 procedures or $43 million claims.)

Southern Cross Health Insurance Chief Medical Officer, Dr Stephen Child, said that the data provided an important insight into the role of the private sector in meeting the health requirements of New Zealanders.

“While the public health system does a fantastic job looking after acute urgent medical issues, health insurance gives Kiwis access to elective surgical procedures and specialist consultations when they need it and choice about where they receive it,” said Child.

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