Medical Aid

 

Oscar ‘doing well’ after night in hospital

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Oscar is doing well under the circumstances, his father Henke Pistorius says.

The Paralympic athlete was kept in Kalafong Hospital in Atteridgeville, Pretoria overnight for observation after experiencing chest pains on Thursday morning.

“He has been discharged and is back in the facility,” Logan Maistry, spokesperson for the department of correctional services, told AFP.

Henke told YOU Oscar had previously had “bad colds” and it was not clear whether this was a reason for the severe pains in his chest.

Several tests have been performed on Oscar since Thursday and “all the tests were negative”, said Henke.

The 30-year-old is serving a six-year prison sentence for the murder of his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in February 2013.

Oscar has been behind bars for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp, since July 6 last year. He argued that he thought she was an intruder.

He was transferred from the Kgosi Mampuru II prison to the Atteridgeville priso
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Aaron Motsoaledi – The outbreak of listeriosis is over

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Grocery stores have been given the green light to once again stock processed meat on shelves and pack them in lunch boxes. This comes almost six months after polony and other ready-to-eat processed meats were declared no-go areas by the Department of Health.

“A team of World Health Organisation (WHO) international and local experts [have] agreed that because no cases of listeriosis due to the outbreak strain have been identified since the first week of June 2018 and that over the last two months the incidence rate of laboratory-confirmed listeriosis cases has dropped to pre-outbreak levels, the outbreak of listeriosis is over,” said Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.

While processed meats were officially given the clear at a media briefing on Monday, Motsoaledi warned the public that listeria is still a reality.

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The Private healthcare industry needs to change

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The “startling costs” of South African private healthcare is at the heart of the Competition Commission’s Health Market Inquiry (HMI) draft report released in July. While cost is a key theme, the report also describes a sector lacking the vital force of authentic, robust competition.

Currently, the South African private healthcare sector is an opaque system dominated by a small handful of players. Members pay for medical scheme cover, and accept that they will also have to pay costs out of their own pockets.

Looking for a affordable Medical Aid or Hospital Plan, just click here Medical Aid or just send your Name, surname, age and email address to 082 738 5586

The common refrain of the medical aid will pay is one that is inherently false. It is not the medical aid that pays, but the member. “The fact that so many people cling to this erro
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Would you test for HIV in your living room?

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It starts with a swab but does it end with a diagnosis? Why the trickiest part of DIY HIV testing happens after the test

The trick, says Ann Moore as she pulls the small white stick from the plastic packaging, is not just to swab the gums but to scrape them.

The doctor sticks the rod under her lip and drags it first along one side of her gums, then the other.

“You don’t want saliva. You want the cells – the antibodies.”

She places the stick into a tube of clear liquid and waits. One line would mean she is HIV negative; two, HIV positive.

In 2013, the United Nations set the world an ambitious target of “90-90-90”: the idea was that, by 2020, 90% of all HIV-infected people would know their status, 90% of those diagnosed with HIV would be on antiretrovirals, and 90% of people receiving treatment would be virally suppressed.

Just three years away from the goal date, and with only 65% of South Africa’s 6.8-million people living with HIV diagn
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Medical aids spying on doctors with hidden cameras – High Court claim

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The National Healthcare Professionals Association of South Africa has filed papers in the Pretoria High Court accusing 19 medical aid schemes of spying on doctors and sneaking hidden cameras into their consulting rooms.

The Sunday Times reported that medical aids are also allegedly holding back payments to doctors due to unproven misconduct.

The association – formed in October 2016 – has 320 members around South Africa, of which 65 are part of the court application.

Many medical aids will oppose the application and deny any wrongdoing, stating that fraud and false claims amount to millions of rand each year and were on the rise.

The lawsuit specifically named Discovery, stating that the scheme has sent spies and private investigators with concealed video cameras and recording equipment into private consultation rooms without consent.

According to the association, this is unlawful as it infringes on the doctor-patient relationship, and the doctor’s
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Medical Aid Fraud:- Audiologist convicted of 259 counts

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Earlier this month, Wandile Theophilus Mashego, an audiologist and speech therapist practising in Pretoria, was found guilty of 259 counts of medical aid fraud and one count for contravening Section 66 of the Medical Schemes Act.

The case was brought against him by Bonitas Medical Fund after it was discovered he had been submitting fraudulent claims on behalf of members over a period of two years – from 2014 to 2015.

A soon to be identified ‘runner’ provided details of Bonitas Medical Fund members to Mashego, who then billed Bonitas fraudulently, for ‘services’ to these members.

Looking for a affordable Medical Aid or Hospital Plan, just click here Medical Aid or just send your Name, surname, age and email address to 082 738 5586

Mashego pleaded guilty under Section 105A of the Criminal Procedure Act 77 of 1951 and was sentence
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Is SA’s healthcare getting better?

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Globally, noncommunicable diseases were responsible for 70% of deaths in 2015, up from 60% in 2000. Ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death accounting for 8.8 million deaths in 2015, followed by stroke (6.2 million deaths) and lower respiratory infections (3.2 million deaths).

Communicable (infectious) diseases, on the other hand, were the cause of 12 million deaths worldwide in 2015 (in total), especially in low-income countries. These diseases include lower respiratory tract infections, diarrheal diseases, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

In South Africa, the number of deaths recorded in 2015 totalled 460,236 (compared to over one million births), indicating a 3% decline in deaths processed between 2015 and 2014. The majority of deaths were due to noncommunicable diseases (55.5% in 2015), an increase from 42.9% in 2005.

Interestingly, when compared to the global situation, the leading cause of natural deaths in South Africa in 2015 was t
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Market concentration is plaguing South Africa’s private healthcare market

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The preliminary findings of a recent inquiry into South Africa’s private healthcare sector shows worrying trends. Key among the inquiry’s revelations are high concentration levels in the market.

For example, the report shows that 70% of the open medical schemes market is controlled by two players – Discovery Health Medical Scheme and Bonitas. The market for restricted medical aid schemes is dominated by the Government Employees Medical Scheme, with a 47% market share. The medical scheme administrators market is controlled by three players, Discovery Health, MMI Holdings and Medscheme. These three have a 70% combined market share.

The situation is no better in the market for private hospitals. Three hospital groups – Netcare, Mediclinic and Life Healthcare – hold 83% of the national market.

The concentration problem in the private healthcare sector is further compounded by integration. Two of the largest medical scheme administrators, Discovery Health and
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Google search adds medical quiz to help diagnose depression.

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Google has integrated a medially-certified quiz into its search results to help users determine whether they have depression.

Users in the United States who search Google for depression or clinical depression will now be greeted with a link labelled “Check if you are clinically depressed”.

The link opens an integrated PHQ-9 questionnaire, which helps to identify levels of depressive symptoms.

It is important to note that the PHQ-9 quiz is not meant to act as a standalone diagnostic tool, but it can help users to identify symptoms.

Google said users should consult a medical professional for an in-depth diagnosis to determine if they have clinical depression.

Take the test here!

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Free Medical-Aid, Hospital and Funeral Plan and Insurance Quotes at www.MedSure.co.za
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Nearly 2 million will lose private healthcare if tax reform happens

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The government’s plan to ditch medical aid tax credits will have a disastrous effect on already cash-strapped South Africans and force nearly 2 million people onto the over-stretched state health system.

If the tax credit is removed, 22% of medical aid users will not be able to afford cover, Stellenbosch economics consultancy Econex warned in a report published on Friday – 1.9 million of the 8 million medical aid members, including children, will have to drop out of the private healthcare system.

In a national health insurance policy document released in July, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said he wanted to remove the tax credit to users, which amounts to R20-billion a year.

Medical aid schemes’ members get a tax reduction of R3,636 a year – or R303 a month. Motsoaledi said then that “the tax credit … we believe, is unfair”.

Economist Paula Armstrong, author of the Econex analysis, said the rebate was intended to “alleviate some pressure on the state [
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Medical software crippled by recent cyber attack

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Many doctors still can’t use a transcription service made by Nuance Communications Inc. three weeks after the company was hit by a powerful, debilitating computer attack.

Hospital systems including Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center said eScription, a Nuance staple product that allows physicians to dictate notes from a telephone, still isn’t functioning. The outage obliterated doctors’ instructions to patients, forcing some to revert to pen and paper.

The computer virus, called Petya, has sent ripples through health care, among the last industries to make the switch to digital record keeping and one of the most frequently targeted by hackers, said Michael Ebert, a partner with KPMG who advises health and life-science companies on cybersecurity.

“Health care has been late to respond to the need for protected information, and the information is worth more,” Ebert said. “It’s amazing how far behind we are
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‘Beste’ mediese skema wen met eenvoud, waarde

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Medihelp is nou die mediese skema waarmee lede die meeste tevrede is.

Lede van mediese skemas is egter in die geheel beskou effens minder tevrede met hul produk as ’n jaar gelede.

Die tevredenheid van lede van Discovery Health Medical Scheme en van Bonitas het albei gedaal.

Dis onder die bevindings van die South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi) vir mediese skemas vir 2018, wat Donderdag uitgereik is.

Daarvolgens het die gemiddelde punt vir mediese skemas van 74,2 in 2017 tot 72,7 in 2018 gedaal. Dis uit ’n moontlike 100 punte.

Die grootste rede vir die daling is Suid-Afrikaners se “toenemende frustrasie met stygende premies en dalende voordele”. Hulle voel dat hulle minder waarde vir hul geld kry vergeleke met ander finansiële dienste, sê Schreuder.

Mediese skemas se premies het vanjaar met gemiddeld 9% gestyg, baie meer as waarmee kort- en langtermynversekering se premies gestyg het.

Oor Discovery, die grootste oop mediese ske
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Diarrhoea Outbreak:- Tests underway to find cause

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The Mpumalanga Provincial Government has called on members of the public, who suspect that they may have diarrhoea, to visit their nearest health facility.

This comes as the provincial government tries to contain a diarrhoea outbreak in the Ehlanzeni region.

“To date, over 1,300 cases of diarrhoea have been reported in health facilities, especially within Mbombela Municipality. The provincial government is further encouraging citizens to go to the nearest health facility immediately if they suspect that they are experiencing diarrhoea, which is mainly in the form of passing loose stools, feeling nauseas and vomiting as well as feeling stomach cramps,” said the spokesperson of Mpumalanga Premier, Zibonele Mncwango.

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Experts decry plan to consolidate small medical schemes !!

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The plan by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) to consolidate or dissolve small medical schemes posed risks to the people who belong to these schemes and might force some to drop their cover, industry sources warned this week.

More than 228,000 people belonged to 31 medical schemes that had fewer than 6,000 members at the end of 2015, according to the CMS 2015-16 annual report. All but three of these schemes are restricted employer groups. Restricted employer group schemes generally subsidise members on low incomes, enabling them to buy cover they could not afford on the open market.

CMS acting registrar Sipho Kabane said consolidating the industry was in line with the white paper on National Health Insurance (NHI).

Medical schemes with fewer than 6,000 principal members were targeted as they fail to meet the requirements of the Medical Schemes Act. The act says schemes must have 6,000 members to register.

Consolidation was necessary because fragmented r
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Health MEC ‘putting band aid on gaping wound of oncology crisis’

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The DA in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday renewed its call for Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo to be fired, saying it appears he is “trying to put a band aid on a large gaping wound” in respect of the province’s oncology crisis.

The DA had been advised by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) that Dhlomo had met the latest in a series of deadlines in terms of its recommendations required to address the province’s cancer crisis, DA MPL Imran Keeka said.

This followed the SAHRC’s release of a damning report in June which found Dhlomo and his department guilty of violating the rights of KwaZulu-Natal cancer patients by failing to provide proper access to treatment.

Keeka said the DA had received a copy of the MEC’s submissions from the SAHRC, which the party was currently assessing.

“On the face of it, it appears that the MEC is trying to put a band aid on a large gaping wound, with the proposals providing little in the way of concrete steps to
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