Southern Cross Health Insurance funded more than 1,800 knee replacement surgeries ($47.9m) and more than 1,900 hip replacement surgeries ($45m) in the 12-months to June 30. These two procedures alone accounted for nearly 10 per cent of the organisation’s $972m in total claims paid.
The organisation’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Stephen Child, said the data provides an important insight into the role of the private sector in meeting the health requirements of New Zealanders.
Southern Cross Health Insurance’s top claims show a heavy reliance on the private health sector to perform colonoscopies, which are used to look for signs of bowel cancer and investigate causes of pain, and changed bowel habits. The organisation funded nearly 20,000 procedures at a cost of $43.3 million.
Other top claims include removal of skin cancers and other skin lesions during more than 27,000 procedures costing $34.5m. For children, surgical removal of tonsils, teeth and adenoids topped the list of most expensive procedures with nearly 2,500 surgeries costing more than $10m.
The data also points to the significant role of private health providers enabling access to chemotherapy to treat cancer with policy holders receiving $26m worth of treatment.
“Southern Cross Health Insurance funded close to half a million specialist consultations and a quarter of a million surgical procedures in the past year which helps to reduce the burden on the public health system,” said Dr Child.