COVID-19 drives spike in Australian health spending: gov't report
Oct 25, 2023
Canberra [Australia], October 25: The COVID-19 pandemic drove a spike in Australian spending on health care in 2021-22, government data has revealed.
A report released by government agency the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on Wednesday revealed that 241.3 billion Australian dollars (153.3 billion U.S. dollars) was spent on health goods and services nationally in the 12 months to the end of June 2022, the equivalent of 9,365 Australian dollars (5,951 dollars) per person.
It marked an increase of 13.7 billion Australian dollars (8.7 billion dollars) from the previous 12 months.
After adjusting for inflation, health spending grew 6 percent from 2020-21 to 2021-22 compared to an average annual increase of 3.4 percent in the previous decade, the report said.
Governments accounted for 72.9 percent of spending on health care, with 105.8 billion Australian dollars (67.2 billion dollars) coming from the federal government and a combined bill of 70.2 billion Australian dollars (44.6 billion dollars) from state and territory governments.
Federal government health care funding grew 8.6 percent from 2020-21 to 2021-22, more than double the long-term average of 3.5 percent.
The report attributed the spike to the coronavirus pandemic.
It said spending on hospitals increased 4.6 percent over the 12 months to 96 billion Australian dollars (61 billion dollars), partly as a result of increasing COVID-19 hospitalizations.
Spending on primary health care, including general practitioners and community health centers, grew 10.9 percent to 84.1 billion Australian dollars (53.4 billion dollars) 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 percent drop in health spending by individuals and a 5.3 percent fall in spending by private health insurance providers.
Source: Xinhua
