Business Day 24 November 2023 - The report has potentially far-reaching implications for the industry.
The Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) says it has submitted its long-awaited report on cheap, pared down medical scheme options to Health Minister Joe Paahla. The CMS declined to release the document, saying it was the Minister's prerogative to do so. The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) said the minister was required to provide it with the report in line with a recent high court settlement in which he agreed to give the organisation all its documents on LCBOs. Wits governance professor Alex van den Heever said the health department's involvement was required only if a wider policy framework was considered, that could not be implemented by way of exemption. LCBOs can be approved on a case by case basis where they serve the goals of the Medical Schemes Act.
Business Day 23 November 2023 - FF+ report based on 273 patient complaints about neglect and abuse in all nine provinces.
Patients complained about 93 public hospitals and three private hospitals in all nine provinces. They painted a picture of horrifying neglect and abuse meted out to vulnerable patients by overwhelmed staff working in filthy, ill-equipped and under-resourced facilities.
Business Day 22 November 2023 - Business person Grant Pattison lodged a complaint with the ARB regarding an ad for 'comprehensive chronic cover' that the medical scheme posted in October.
Discovery Health has been ordered to qualify its claim to offer "comprehensive" chronic cover after being called out by a prominent businessman, Grant Pattison. Pattison said the advert was misleading because Discovery did not provide cover for all chronic diseases and excluded cover for treatment of some of the most common chronic conditions including depression, dementia, asthma, chronic anaemia and hypertension.
Business day 21 November 2023 - Busa says its submissions have fallen on deaf ears.
The National Council for Provinces (NCOP) select committee on health and social services has adopted the contentious National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill without making any changes, dashing the private healthcare sector's hopes that MPs would siften its provisions on the role of medical schemes. The development takes the bill one step closer to final approval by the ANC-dominated NCOP, which is expected to vote in favour of it next week, and then submit it to the president for assent.