Mental health is top reason Australians go to hospital as millions spent on claims revealed

A post-pandemic health crisis has seen an explosion in the number of impacted Aussies ending up in hospital with waiting lists blowing out to nine months.

Younger Australians are being admitted to hospital with mental health woes in high numbers

Mental health is now the top reason health fund members aged under 59 are going to hospital – overtaking procedures such as gastroscopies and colonoscopies.

And their illnesses are now so severe treatments are extremely high-cost with one patient who had recurrent depressive disorder requiring $526,818 worth of treatment in 2022.

Young people are most affected with one in five hospital claims for health fund members under 30 last year for patients with psychiatric, mental, addiction or behavioural disorders.

The data has come to light in the health fund industry’s latest report into high cost claims (more than $10,000) and it further underlines the nation’s growing mental health crisis.

An explosion of mental health problems in the wake of Covid has seen wait times to see a psychiatrist or psychologist blow out to nine months.

Dr Rachel David, Chief executive of Private Healthcare Australia, the health fund lobby group. Picture Kym Smith

And Private Healthcare Australia chief Dr Rachel David said health fund member claims for mental health care had actually declined slightly “because people can’t get in to see a psychiatrist” to refer them to a hospital.

However the people who are able to access care are very sick “it has certainly got worse since Covid and consequences of that pandemic are really hitting people a lot harder than perhaps we’ve realised as a society”, she said.

Over one in four (27 per cent) of admissions for high cost mental health treatment in the under 30s were for depressive disorders, followed by anxiety disorders (18 per cent), eating disorders (12 per cent), other mental and substance use disorders (10.4 per cent) and bipolar affective disorder (9.5 per cent) making up the top 5 mental health conditions.

The report also shows that in 2022 Covid and Long Covid were extremely costly for health funds.

In 2022 there were 5,753 high cost claims for Covid treatment (a 20 fold increase on the previous year).

The highest benefit paid for a hospitalisation in 2022 where member had Covid as well, was $238,462.

This person aged in their late forties was in hospital for two months for the treatment of Covid related pneumonia.

There were also over 560 high cost claims linked to Long Covid with the highest benefit paid being $431,635.

This person aged in their late 30s was in hospital for nearly five months for the treatment of Guillain-Barre syndrome (a form of nerve inflammation) as part of the Long Covid syndrome.

The overall highest benefit paid out by any health fund was $780,286 for the treatment of rheumatic heart disease. The patient was in hospital for over 7 months.

Covid and Long Covid led to many high cost health fund claims. Picture Chris Pavlich for The Manly Daily

A patient in their 80s with heart valve disease was in hospital for 109 days costing $677,563, a 255 day stay in hospital for a stroke victim in their 30s cost $491,920.

The highest cost cancer patient was a stomach cancer patient in their 60s who spent 97 days in hospital and cost $365,297.

Dr Elizabeth Moore, President of the Royal Australia and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists said “right across Australia the demand for mental health care is growing”.

“We have cost-of-living pressures, the ongoing impact from COVID-19, and many communities facing or recovering from natural disasters.

“The need for mental health support isn’t likely to slow down any time soon, so it’s critical we’re investing in affordable mental health care at every level – both publicly and privately – because ideally cost should never be a barrier to receiving help,” she said.

Originally published as Mental health is top reason Australians go to hospital as millions spent on claims revealed