Insured people take less sick leave

By MARTIN JOHNSTON


Work absenteeism is far lower among people with health insurance for hospital treatment than for those without it, a study has found.

It was commissioned by Southern Cross Healthcare, which is using it to urge employers to buy cover for their staff and to underpin the health insurance industry's repeated calls for tax breaks or subsidies on premiums.

But the Government is maintaining its opposition to such moves.

"This is not on the Government's agenda," said a spokeswoman for Finance Minister Michael Cullen.

The industry has tried to increase the number of people covered by health insurance, which stands at about one-third of the population, down from around half in 1990.

The survey involved a randomly selected group of 200 Southern Cross members who had had an operation and 76 uninsured workers who had been to hospital in the preceding 12 months or were on a surgery waiting list.

The figures were not adjusted to take account of the varying complexity of different operations.

The study found that:

* Following a GP referral, the insured waited five weeks on average for hospital treatment; the uninsured waited 16 weeks.

* While awaiting treatment, normal work performance was adversely affected for 25 per cent of the insured and 48 per cent of the uninsured.

* Work absenteeism in the year-long study period averaged 14 days for the insured and 71 days for the uninsured (or 48 days when the worst cases were excluded).

The corporate solutions head of Southern Cross' insurance division, Peter Tynan, said yesterday that the study showed that having health insurance increased workers' productivity.

The fringe benefit tax on health insurance premiums should be removed, aligning them with ACC premiums, he said.

"There is a case for subsidising health insurance. For working populations, for the employer, we are saying there's also a case."