Health claims top $760m

Health insurance claims breached three-quarters of a billion dollars for the first time last year, according to industry figures released yesterday by the Health Funds Association.

Executive director Roger Styles said the $764 million in claims paid in the year to the end of December indicated the big contribution the private sector was making in funding healthcare in New Zealand.

The December 2009 quarter's annualised 9.8 per cent claims growth was down from the peak of 13.2 per cent in December 2008.