13 June 2024

LUKE GRANT: The cost of healthcare in Australia is skyrocketing. I mentioned this earlier, there's some concerning numbers out today, as part of a report. It details the rising costs of 30 conditions that bring an enormous financial burden to both patients and taxpayers. In fact, over their lifetime, people may face up to $190,000 worth of out of pocket expenses. To make it even worse, that also affects people covered by private health insurance. The report suggests that sufferers of Parkinson's foot the greatest bill due to the rising cost of treatments and mobility aids. The high costs are also attributed to accommodation modifications, those made to residences and vehicles and travelling between places. More than 150,000 Aussies live with Parkinson's, so there's too many families out there living with this financial struggle. Seems to me. We used to say, if you're going to get sick anywhere, make sure it's Australia. I want to have a chat here with Matt Paterson, Chief Claims Officer of Zurich in Australia and New Zealand, he joins me on the line. Matt, thank you for your time.

MATT PATERSON: Nice to talk to you, Luke.

LUKE GRANT: You too. I think it's not unfair to suggest that we, you know, we thought we had this universal health system that provided for those people that needed support, the support they needed. And we also thought, I think, and lots of people listening to us, Matt, would say, ‘oh, well I've got private health insurance, so I'll never get myself into too much trouble’, but when you hear some of these numbers, it is very concerning.

MATT PATERSON: Yeah, look, we've got this report released today, which is all publicly available information and reliable data. It does shine a light on the rising costs and the rising prevalence of certain health conditions. I think, though, from our perspective, it really shines the need on Australians' to be resilient and focus on their health like they would their home, their contents, their assets. And when it comes to their health, they want to be focusing on preventative measures like eating well, a good lifestyle, going to the doctor, and also financial. So, that's where the role of insurance comes in, to help people get back to work quickly if they're sick or to help them financially.

LUKE GRANT: You know, that is such a good point. I wonder how much we actually do devote to prevention. You know, just those things that might be simple for those people already healthy, you know, and really pay attention, but for lots of other people, it's not there. But what gets me is that someone who suffers dementia, the second leading cause of death in Australia - I think I spoke earlier about this, it might be the leading cause for women - costing an average $54,000 in the first year of diagnosis and then 17, or near enough, two grand each year after that. No one thought that came with that diagnosis.

MATT PATERSON: Yeah. Look, I think the challenge we've got is it's a broader ecosystem that we work across: government, health, life, and other sectors, and we do have a great healthcare system. But it's important that Australians don't become complacent. There are - this report shows the out of pocket costs that might be prevalent, and we are leaning into the fact that Australians are living longer and we're also able to diagnose diseases a lot faster. But the good news is the survival rates on a number of conditions are improving as well. So, it's not all doom and gloom, trust me.

LUKE GRANT: Yeah. So, the out of pocket debate - should there be products where there are no out of pocket expenses, or would they just be too prohibitive in cost to offer to people?

MATT PATERSON: Look, I think your point's well made. I think, as I said, the broader ecosystem, it's difficult to look at one condition over another, and it's really looking at how we work across the broader sector with government and other health parts of the sector to make it more affordable and more accessible moving forward.

LUKE GRANT: Do we do good enough in terms of government, good enough in getting affordable healthcare in this country? You know, we can't just set the price and expect to get stuff cheaply. But I know many years ago, we seem to be paying a lot more than other countries. Is that under control yet? Do you know?

MATT PATERSON: Look, I think it's a broader reality of cost of living across the board, inflation and the pressures that people are going through post coming out of the COVID pandemic. We know there was a backlog of people waiting to be diagnosed and even visit hospital. So, I think we've certainly got a lot more to do, and I think working together is important on that.

LUKE GRANT: Yeah. Matt, do we get the full report at the Zurich website?

MATT PATERSON: You do, the report's there. And as I said, all publicly available data. We first did this report in 2018. This is a refreshed report and it's something that we really want to make sure it's available to Australians to make informed decisions.

LUKE GRANT: Good on you. Nice to talk to you, mate. Thanks so much. That's Matt Paterson, Chief Claims Officer for Zurich in Australia and New Zealand.

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