Medibank has released the annual Medibank Chart Toppers list of the top ten most expensive hospital claims, which had a combined amount of $2.45 million.
Topping the list, the two most expensive claims were for newborn babies. In total four of the top 10 claims were for neonatal care.
Third and fourth on the list were cardiothoracic surgery claims, which involves surgery to the throat, heart or lungs.
All the above claims included costs for surgery and hospital accommodation.
Medibank Group Executive - Private Health Insurance, Laz Cotsios, comments, "Few people think about the actual cost of healthcare, but these claims show just how expensive treatment is."
Laz continues, "Whilst it's easy to think that you will never need serious healthcare - and we hope that you won't - I imagine that many of the patients on this list thought the same thing. It's fortunate that they all had private health insurance, which reduced the financial burden of these costly procedures and enabled the patients to focus only on their priority - their or their newborn's recovery."
In total, Medibank paid out $2.68 billion in claims to members who had received medical attention. This was an increase of $165million on the amount paid out the previous year.
Laz says, "As the population ages and technology advances, so the cost of healthcare increases. In addition, Medibank-member hospital admissions increased by 3%. We all know that healthcare is expensive, but this list indicates just how much the cost is escalating."