Non-government (individuals) spending
Spending by non–government, specifically individuals, on COVID–19 related services and items was an estimated $878 million over the period 2019–20 to 2021–22. This is made up of:
- $877 million on over the counter (OTC) COVID–19 related products, such as COVID–19 antigen tests ($597 million), personal protective equipment and respirators ($224 million), and sanitizer ($56 million).
- $1.3 million out–of–pocket for benefit paid pharmaceuticals (72,000 scripts) approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for the treatment of COVID–19 (specifically nirmatrelvir + ritonavir (PAXLOVID); molnupiravir (LAGEVRIO)).
- $97,603 in out–of–pocket (OOP) costs for 62 million MBS services to specifically treat and detect COVID–19 (such as PCR tests, vaccine suitability assessments and support for patients isolating with COVID). This low cost across the three years reflected the high bulk billing rate for these services and hence minimal out of pocket costs incurred. Noting however, that this only includes MBS items that could be directly attributable to COVID–19 and as such, GP services (item 23 etc) that may have incurred an OOP cost are excluded. The AIHW will be conducting further investigation of primary care COVID–19 spending in subsequent reports.
Item description | 2019–20 $million | 2020–21 $million | 2021–22 $million | Total $million | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Antigen test kits | – | – | 596.9 | 596.9 | 68 |
Respirators, face masks and shields | 12.1 | 97.6 | 114.0 | 223.7 | 26 |
Sanitiser | 33.8 | 15.8 | 6.6 | 56.1 | 6 |
Total | 45.9 | 113.3 | 717.4 | 876.7 | 100 |
Source: IQVIA.
Note: this excludes non-pharmacy expenditure.