Tag: medical scheme

Employee benefits such as a retirement fund, healthcare insurance, medical scheme membership, group life and disability benefits are pre-negotiated and agreed upon as part of the employment process and contracting. Typically, these benefits remain in place until the employee-employer relationship concludes through resignation, dismissal, retrenchment, retirement or death.

Mandatory health cover of formally employed is tried and tested and if put to use in South Africa could reduce the public health burden, increase public per capita spend on health, and free up resources that could help address the country’s most pressing health crises.

While the President has signed the National Health Insurance (NHI) into law, the bean counters at National Treasury have yet to start looking for their excel sheets needed to ensure the NHI is fully costed. The first reason is due to the confusion of objective versus political ideology. The NHI has been touted as introducing “universal healthcare coverage” (UHC).

President Ramaphosa has promulgated the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act. The NHI, in its bill form, has been controversial since its introduction and has attracted significant critique from various stakeholders. It is therefore likely that the Act will be the subject of fierce litigation, sooner or later.

Events in recent years have pushed countries to rapidly evolve their healthcare systems, demanding that they shift their focus towards pivotal strategies that can curtail long-term healthcare costs. It is particularly pertinent in South Africa, where the escalating healthcare costs pose a formidable challenge. Healthcare costs are spiralling, putting immense pressure on the nation's economy.

Our Research Intelligence team has released the findings of an inspiring study into the 90 centenarians (people aged 100 years old and older). This remarkable group of 90 individuals stand out among our 2.7 million of our members.

Affordability is a prime concern for many when it comes to choosing the right medical aid plan. Medical inflation consistently outpaces general inflation, so year after year employees need to balance coverage and cost.

As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, the role of data to drive efficiencies and improve patient outcomes has become the core of our industry. To me, we aspire to be like the ridesharing app Uber, enabling access to the best doctors and treatments at the best prices, all while facilitating the optimal healthcare ‘route’ for our members based on their individual lives and economic circumstances.

With digital transformation and rapid advances in technology meaning change in the market is swift and constant, businesses must keep up, or face being left behind. Agility is the key to business success and the healthcare industry is no exception.

Greater adoption of digital platforms and strengthening the digital healthcare ecosystem will significantly reduce medical and drug errors in both the private and public healthcare sectors, leading to improved patient outcomes and lower healthcare costs.