Medibank customers make the most on extras cover

People in NSW are more likely to go to the optometrist while Victorians are the biggest spenders on physiotherapy.

Medibank chief medical officer Dr Linda Swan. Picture: Elisabeth Jane

People living in NSW are more likely to go to the optometrist, while sports-mad Victorians are forcing the biggest national spend on physiotherapy and chiropractors.

New figures obtained by The Australian reveal the first major insight into national health ancillary claims, providing a snapshot of trends across the country.

Medibank, with its biggest public release of ancillary data, has revealed that its NSW customers make the most of their optical cover, with members of the state claiming $60 million for optical services and devices — the highest of any state.

In Victoria, customers claimed $21m in benefits for physiotherapy services and $17.6m for chiropractic treatment — both representing the highest figure nationally for those services.

The new data has also revealed that Medibank customers claimed an additional $150m in extras benefits last financial year compared with five years ago. The total paid last financial year was $1.1 billion, with almost half of that spent on dental treatment.

Medibank chief medical officer Linda Swan said the figures bucked the common belief that people were not getting as much from their health insurance.

“We know that’s not true because we are paying more each time they go to hospital and more people are going to hospital,” Dr Swan said.

“This is another example, even in the extras space, that there is more money being invested by insurers in our members’ health.”

Dr Swan said the insurer’s members should have as much information as possible on their healthcare.

“We sit on a lot of data and who knows how this (new data) might be used by our members or healthcare professionals, but at least if we are sharing it, we are using it to help show some insights and perhaps generate discussion about, are the changes we are seeing, good or not,” she said.

Dr Swan said while the state comparisons did not confirm any trends, they did raise questions.

Queensland topped the country for spending on dental, with $138.3m paid out by Medibank in that state. The Sunshine State also took out the No 1 spot for the $8.3m spent on podiatry services.

“Dental healthcare is a big issue and we know there is a link between poor dental healthcare and chronic disease,” she said.

“That ($138.3m) is an unexpected high result for Queensland, so are they doing something really well there that means more Queenslanders are aware of dental health issues?

“If this allows us to say Queensland is doing something better and how can we learn from that and encourage other states to follow suit, then that is not a bad thing. Sometimes simple analysis can lead to changes in policy decisions.”

Medibank’s data also revealed that the nationwide $80.1m spending on physiotherapy jumped 29.6 per cent over the past five years, and the $63.9m invested in chiropractic treatment was a 27.8 per cent jump. The insurer, and its subsidiary ahm, paid $5.1bn for its customers’ extras and hospital healthcare last financial year, which included 500,000 surgeries and more than 1.3 million hospital admissions.

The significant jump in spending on extras was a positive trend, Dr Swan said.

“There are concerns about healthcare costs, so maybe we are all getting more savvy about how to ensure you do get good value out of your health insurance,” she said.

“There is evidence that if customers use their extras covers well it can help prevent chronic disease and healthcare problems.

“From our perspective if we can find ways by encouraging the use of extras cover that gives people the sense that health insurance is of value, then they keep it for those times they can’t predict, which is what it is really there for,” Dr Swan said.