Covid-19 pandemic drove a spike in Australian spending: Report

The Covid-19 pandemic drove a spike in Australian spending on health care in 2021-22, a government report released on Wednesday said.

The report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on Wednesday revealed that A$241.3 billion was spent on health goods and services nationally in the 12 months to the end of June 2022, the equivalent of A$9,365 per person, reports Xinhua news agency.

It marked an increase of A$13.7 billion from the previous 12 months.

After adjusting for inflation, health spending grew 6 per cent from 2020-21 to 2021-22 compared to an average annual increase of 3.4 per cent in the previous decade, the report said.

Governments accounted for 72.9 per cent of spending on health care, with A$105.8 billion coming from the federal government and a combined bill of A$70.2 billion from state and territory governments.

Federal government health care funding grew 8.6 per cent from 2020-21 to 2021-22, more than double the long-term average of 3.5 per cent.

The report attributed the spike to the coronavirus pandemic.

It said spending on hospitals increased 4.6 per cent over the 12 months to A$96 billion, partly as a result of increasing Covid-19 hospitalisations.

Spending on primary healthcare, including general practitioners and community health centres, grew 10.9 per cent to A$84.1 billion in 2021-22, which the report said “was associated with increased spending related to the pandemic, such as Covid-19 vaccines, and personal protective equipment”.

However, the report said that strict Covid-19 restrictions across much of Australia during the period covered by the report were “likely” responsible for a 0.9 pe rcent drop in health spending by individuals and a 5.3 per cent fall in spending by private health insurance providers.