First quarter claims rise, nib report

nib New Zealand CEO Rob Hennin reports that the company has been inundated with claims post-lockdown, with private hospital treatments booming as Covid-19 put pressure on already stretched public providers.

“There are a number of reasons for this surge,” he explains. “There are the deferred claims, of course, as people were unable to access unable to access many treatments during lockdown.

“Post-lockdown, clinicians have been working overtime and preapproved waiting lists are coming down dramatically. People are also spending money that they may have spent on holidays on treatments they may be deferred, and this is also part of the reason for the uptake in claims.”

Hennin states that the surge in claims is across the board but is encouraged by the fact that the predicted lapse has not come to fruition.