Health system spending on the response to COVID-19 in Australia 2019–20 to 2022–23

Spending by non–government, specifically individuals, on COVID–19 related services and items was an estimated $1.1 billion over the period 2019–20 to 2022–23. This is made up of:

• $1,095 million on over the counter (OTC) COVID–19 related products, such as COVID–19 antigen tests⁠ ($781 ⁠⁠⁠⁠million), personal protective equipment and respirators ($258 million), and sanitiser ($56 million). Two-thirds of this spending (66%) was in 2021–22 ($717 million).
• $14.3 million out–of–pocket for benefit paid pharmaceuticals (close to 1 million scripts) approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for the treatment of COVID–19 (specifically nirmatrelvir + ritonavir (PAXLOVID); molnupiravir (LAGEVRIO)).
• $0.6 million in out–of–pocket (OOP) costs for 68 million MBS services to specifically treat and detect COVID–19 (such as PCR tests, vaccine suitability assessments and COVID–19 management support services). This low cost across the four 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 is currently conducting further investigation of COVID–19 spending in a separate report due for release in 2025 that sources data from the COVID-19 Register (AIHW 2024a), a linked dataset that tracks service use and expenditure for people who tested positive to COVID–19.

Source: IQVIA.

Note: this excludes non-pharmacy expenditure.