COLUMNS • INSURANCE
With qualifications in law, economics, tax and financial planning, Steve Wright is General Manager Product at Partners Life.
Covid-19 makes medical insurance essential Steve Wright discusses why private health insurance is even more important in a Covid World.
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hile it’s unlikely private medical insurance will pay for treatments associated with acute or life- threatening Covid-19 infections – that’s a function for the public health system - it may fund private treatments for non-acute complications caused or exacerbated by the disease. Private medical insurance will also fund most non-Covid-19-related, elective and non-acute treatments provided by the private health system. These treatments would ordinarily be reasonably available
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through the public health system, but may become unavailable due to capacity constraints. Capacity constraints in the public health system are of concern around the world. Caused by a combination of factors - the numbers of Covid-19 patients, restrictive hospital protocols required during a pandemic, and staff shortages when isolation is required - these added burdens increase the time taken by the public health system to perform non-Covid-19-related treatments.
‘Covid-19 has forced its way to the front of the public health medical queue, pushing other important treatments aside’
