Two of the proposed amendments to the Medical Schemes Act will do away with co-payments, and abolish the practice of using brokers within the medical schemes environment.
Health Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, said co-payments mean that the scheme pays a portion of the bill that a provider – be it hospital or private doctor – charges to a patient. The rest of the funds are supposed to be paid by the patient from their own pocket.
“The amendment means that every cent charged to the patient must be settled fully by the scheme and the patient should not be burdened with having to pay. There are people who will scream that this amendment is outrageous and calculated to destroy medical schemes and leave beneficiaries with nothing. I want to assure you that this was well thought out,” he said.
According to data at the department’s disposal, medical schemes are holding close to R60bn in unused reserves. While there is a statutory requirement that me
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