The annual Medibank Private Chart Toppers Index has again demonstrated the acute costs associated with ensuring a bill of good health.
The value of the top claim paid by Medibank Private, for the year ending 30 June 2005, peaked at nearly $275,000 and was paid out on behalf of a 65-year-old member undergoing major colorectal surgery.
The Medibank Private Chart Toppers Index is a review of Medibank Private member claims and benefit payouts, and ranks Medibank Private's Top 10 claims and most common reasons for hospitalisation.
This year's Index listed digestive treatments as the highest reason for Medibank Private members to go to hospital with close to 96,500 admissions and more than $118 million paid in benefits for the treatment.
More than $309 million was paid in benefits on behalf of members for Orthopaedic treatment - approximately $56.5 million higher than the previous financial year. The number of orthopaedic cases also rose by almost 10,000 from nearly 52,000 in 2003/2004 to nearly 62,000 in this Index.
Top 10 Benefit Payouts
TreatmentGenderTotal benefit Paid
ColorectalMale$274,635
PancreatitisFemale$230,082
Psychiatric (Eating Disorder)Female$188,728
Plastic Reconstructive SurgeryFemale$185,543
ColorectalFemale$151,063VascularMale$146,745Urinary Tract InfectionMale$142,475Intestinal CancerFemale$142,118Cardiothoracic SurgeryMale$141,584
Cardiothoracic SurgeryMale$135,900Top 5 reasons by number of admissions
Reason for AdmissionNumber of admissionsTotal benefits****Highest Claim
Digestive (Diagnostic endoscopies)96,450$118 m$135,688Orthopaedic61,388$309 m$119,919Neoplastic disorders (Cancer)53,556$27.9 m$84,550Kidney & urinary tract51,766$39.5 m$52,351ENT(Ear, Nose and Throat)46,771$42.8 m$ 96,117
For more information contact:
Medibank Private, Libby Woolnough, PH: +613 8622 5181 / 0411 659 060
E-mail: libby_woolnough@medibank.com.au