Tag: private healthcare

The Certificate of Need (CON) provisions in the National Health Act 2003 will require doctors to apply for CONs for everything they do and plan to do, including opening a practice and medical equipment they want to use.

The South African government started discussing the National Health Insurance (NHI) in 2003. After several poor attempts at starting, most people thought that a fully funded first-world healthcare system could never become a reality.

The recent presentation at the Board of Healthcare Funder’s annual conference by Christoff Raath, joint-CEO of Insight Actuaries, should garner wide support from the private healthcare industry. Raath quite rightly lamented the incredibly slow pace and prevaricating by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) in developing lower cost medical scheme options that could introduce millions more members into the private health sector.

It is evident there are diverse views on the National Health Insurance (NHI) bill. The NHI will always remain a hot topic fuelled by speculation and political ambitions, but none of us can deny that, for the good of the country, the healthcare system needs to transform.

Reports of alleged corruption plaguing the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS), one of the vehicles being touted to administer the National Health Insurance (NHI) should not come as a surprise. We note with concern these reports, and stresses to both government and citizens the crucial lesson that must be learned from this scandal.

Medical aids have released their rates for 2020, and there are increases ahead of inflation. While it may not seem that way to the end customer, medical aids are locked in a delicate balancing act to maintain a tolerable level of increase and keep private healthcare affordable.