The government-mandated hospital lockdown restrictions are putting Victorians at risk of a “sinister shadow pandemic,” according to new data from Members Health, the peak body for non-for-profit and member-owned health insurers in Australia.
The data found that the restrictions have resulted in dramatic declines in the number of eligibility checks for serious health conditions.
At the end of October 2021, eligibility checks for skin-related procedures had dropped by 21%, kidney and bladder procedures by 25%, gynaecology by 34%, gastrointestinal endoscopy by 25%, and heart and vascular-related procedures by 11%. Out of all the procedures, cataracts experienced the biggest hit, plummeting by a whopping 52% from normal levels.
In Victoria, most of the 83 overnight-stay private hospitals and 105 private day procedure clinics that remain under restrictions are not equipped to admit or treat patients with COVID-19.
Members Health CEO Matthew Koce warned that the longer the Victorian Government implement the restrictions on private hospitals, the worse the impacts on people's health and wellbeing.
“The data we are seeing is unprecedented in Australia and signals an avalanche of complex and very serious health conditions on the way,” Koce added. “Living in pain and on powerful medication, with the added uncertainty of not knowing when surgery is going to resume, is having a crushing impact on people's mental health and on their quality of life.”
On the bright side, Members Health's report found that checks for chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy for cancer have defied the wider decline.
Eligibility checks are a leading indicator of current and future healthcare demand as hospitals conduct checks with health insurers to determine patient eligibility to private health benefits before admission.
Koce explained that Victoria's elective surgery lockdown could stop people from seeing properly and compel them to manage pain with strong opioids and miss out on quality time with family and friends. It could also lead to more complex surgery and a higher risk of poorer clinical outcomes.
“The consequences of these draconian restrictions for people's health and wellbeing are simply not worth it and can no longer be justified as being ‘in the public interest’,” Koce continued.
“Delays in treatment also have a profound impact on mental health. The fact that psychiatric services have rebounded so quickly to 100% is even more evidence of the toll this pandemic and these hospital restrictions are having on many Australians' mental health.”
Aside from eligibility checks, private health insurance is another factor crucial for Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in their ability to access preventative healthcare services.
HCF's research found that over the past two years, 93% of Australians with private health insurance that has Extras cover have used and claimed services, such as dental services, optical services, physio, chiro or massage services, or mental health services.
Focusing on prevention, Australians shared that access to private health insurance facilitates access to preventative treatments, with 71% of the respondents saying that preventative healthcare reduces the need for more extensive treatment later. Meanwhile, 55% said they would be more likely to use preventative treatment if everyone had access to private health insurance.
