Posts tagged with 'medical aids'

 

The Sugar Industry Regulations have been gazetted

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Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry has welcomed the gazetting of the Sugar Industry Regulations.

“The Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry welcomes the gazetting of the Sugar Industry Regulations on transitional arrangements in terms of the Constitution of the South African Sugar Association (Sasa) and the Sugar Industry Agreement,” said the Committee on Thursday.

The regulations were gazetted on 9 October 2018 and the committee subsequently met with the Sasa and South African Farmers Development Agency (Safda).

The meeting was held so that the committee could be briefed on transitional arrangements with respect to incorporating Safda into Sasa and to discuss sugar tariffs.

Committee Chairperson Joan Fubbs said the incorporation is a step in the right direction, particularly for black small-scale farmers.

Safda is a member-based, voluntary non-profit association of like-minded farmers who believe in the development and sustai
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MEDICAL RESEARCH:- Are probiotics boosting SA’s digestive health industry growth?

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Increasingly, health-conscious consumers are starting to follow their gut when looking for ways of mitigating the negative health effects of increasingly stressful lifestyles and unhealthy eating habits. A growing number of consumers are using probiotics to prevent and manage their digestive, as well as general, health issues.

Insight Survey’s latest SA Digestive Health (Probiotics) Industry Landscape Report 2018 uncovers the global and local markets based on the latest information and research. It describes the market drivers and restraints as well as the relevant global and local market trends to present an objective insight into the South African Probiotics industry environment, market dynamics and its future.

The Global Probiotics market is valued at US$45.7 billion in 2018 and is predicted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2% between 2018 and 2024. Asia-Pacific is the largest regional Probiotics market in 2018, with US$24.4 billion, foll
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University of the Western Cape research identifies 130 new skin viruses

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A recent study, which set out to understand the genetic makeup of the many different phages that live on the bacteria living on the cells of our skins, found that no fewer than 130 entirely new species. The study, Novel phages of healthy skin metaviromes from South Africa also hinted at directions for future research..
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National Health Insurance will cost more than R350 billion:- Solidarity

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“VAT will effectively have to be doubled,” says Solidarity. The Solidarity Research Institute has released a report detailing the enormous amount of funding necessary to effectively implement the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme.

The numbers far exceed those previously calculated by the Health Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi. What’s more worrying is the heavy impact this will have on South African taxpayers.

According to Solidarity researcher, Morné Malan, funding required by the NHI is closer to R357 billion with a deficit of approximately R210 billion.

NHI: How does it affect the taxpayer?
Malan outlined the exorbitant fees which would need to be carried by the South African taxpayer. According to his research, value-added tax (VAT) would effectively double in order to carry the weight of NHI.

Commenting on the burden taxpayers will be forced to carry, Malan said:

“It is very difficult to determine from where the additional mon
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South Africa does little to address depression and other mental illnesses:- World Mental Health Day

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As a country, not much has been achieved in building a society that embraces mental illness. For those who are distressed, help is available. Contact SADAG on: 011 234 4837.

Wednesday, 10 October marks World Mental Health Day. However, the topic of our mental health should be at the forefront more often than it is.

In South Africa, the statistics on deaths caused by mental illness are disturbing – to say the least. The country only keeps estimates on suicide rates, but globally, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), it is one of the leading causes of death.

South Africa not quick enough to raise awareness
There aren’t enough facilities and resources in South Africa that are catered towards people suffering from depression and anxiety. These topics are often brushed aside or never embraced in homes that raise young adults who experience this the most.

IOL News reported that:

New York, this week became th
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Need to know information:- What to look out for when choosing a medical scheme

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Are your health insurance costs too high? Try decoding your medical aid terms and conditions and associated costs to make sure that it works for you.

“While health insurance is important, it comes at a cost that is rapidly rising. Unfortunately for the consumer, this affects medical scheme membership contribution rates, and the increases of which are sometimes significantly higher than general inflation.

As schemes try to contain their costs in the face of increasing claims, they make changes to their plans and benefits, which can come as a surprise to the consumer,” says Mark Payne, CEO of the Independent Community Pharmacy Association (ICPA).

Annual review of your plan

He recommends that an annual review of your plan is absolutely vital, and will affirm that it is serving your needs rather than the other way around.

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New fears about medical aid law changes may cause ‘doctor drain’

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A key issue of the proposed Medical Schemes Amendment Bill is the impact on doctors, resulting from a proposed uniform tariff for healthcare services.

Concerns have been raised about the proposed Medical Schemes Amendment Bill, one of many health-related bills which have been going through various motions in Parliament.

Recently, the cabinet approved the Bill to regulate medical schemes, and it will now be published and made available for public comment.

Among the concerns raised is the impact of a proposed uniform tariff for healthcare services, leading to a possible exodus of doctors and other healthcare professionals to countries where they can get “full value” for their services by charging tariffs they see as reasonable.

Looking for a affordable Medical Aid or Hospital Plan, just click here Medical Aid or just send your Name, surname, age, area in which
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The NHI debate is stuck in the weeds

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The National Health Insurance (NHI) is not a radical shift to dismantle a functioning system, but an opportunity to review two poorly functioning ones.

The public sector sees very high volumes of patients but gives them bad service and produces very poor outcomes. The private sector is modelled on low volume, high cost care – it uses its huge quantities of resources badly, to service very few people.

As the Health Market Inquiry (HMI) report makes clear, the large commercial medical schemes are resisting needed reforms that with better productivity would lead to the convergence of the two systems. In particular, they persist with an outdated tariff system that pays for services not outcomes and doesn’t support team-based delivery models. This is probably because it threatens their claim payment and ‘managed care’ role that justifies a very high income. This strategy is counterproductive for their members.

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The Showdown at the UN: SA takes on the US for cheaper drugs

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When the US went to bat for Big Pharma in the fight against this killer disease, South Africa wasn’t having any of it. Here’s what happened next.

Graveyard cough, white plague, consumption. A killer by any name, TB has stalked the human race for aeons, lurking in crowded tenements or following miners deep underground, hanging in the air of our hospitals.

Always there, yet rarely spoken.

Today, it kills more people than HIV and malaria combined, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reports. In South Africa, Statistics South Africa’s latest data shows TB remains the leading cause of non-violent deaths.

Yet it took the United Nations 73 years to call a meeting on TB — and only because a very excitable South African health minister agitated enough for it.

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Bonitas:- Price hike and big changes for medical aid plans in 2019

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Medical aid scheme Bonitas is to increase prices across its various plans by a weighted average of 8.9% in 2019 – while also launching two new lower-cost plans.

The group said that the weighted average is on par with the industry corridor of 3% to 4% above CPI, and comes amid a tough economic climate, which included a hike in VAT to 15% in April 2018.

“The past 12 months have been extremely trying, with a number of uncertainties and changes anticipated,” said Bonitas principal officer, Gerhard Van Emmenis.

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

“In addition, consumers have been heavily impacted by the increase in VAT and escalating prices which resulted from this.”

In July Bonitas reporte
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The biggest medical aid schemes in South Africa – and how much they’re charging in 2018

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The majority of South Africa’s biggest medical aid schemes have released their prices for 2018, showing below 10% increases across all plans.

According to the latest statistics released by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS), there are currently 82 medical aid schemes operating in South Africa with a total subscription of just under 8.9 million members as at December 2016.

Discovery remains the largest medical aid scheme in the country, with over 2.7 million members.

This is followed by the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) with 1.8 million members, and the Bonitas Medical Fund, with just under 680,000 members.

Due to the nature of medical aids, and how each scheme is structured to cater for different hospital networks and cover different medical needs, it’s incredibly difficult to compare like for like, especially on price.

However, with all medical aids now releasing their contribution structures for 2018, the tables below outline the pr
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ATM pharmacy launches in Bloemfontein (Free State)

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Twin City Mall in Bloemfontein is the newest site for the innovative ATM pharmacy that gives patients with chronic illnesses repeat medication in under five minutes.

The Pharmacy Dispensing Unit (PDU) was unveiled on 25 September, during Pharmacy Month, at the central community shopping centre, which is on main transport routes and is open for extended hours including weekends and public holidays. The first such dispensing unit was launched in Alexandra in Gauteng in March this year.

The Pharmacy Dispensing Unit works like an ATM for medication, with Skype-like audio-visual interaction between patient and a remotely located tele-pharmacy contact centre. Patients are able to talk to pharmacists in a call centre 400km away in Centurion, Gauteng – showcasing the benefits of tele-pharmacy to patients in rural and outlying areas. This allows patients to access accurate medicine information and counselling from qualified pharmacy staff.

The dispensing data is hosted
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Why is alcohol withdrawal so hard on some people, the genes may hold the answer

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Some heavy drinkers suffer intense withdrawal symptoms when they try to stop drinking – some, less so. A new Yale-led international study of individuals with alcohol dependence has identified gene variants that may help explain why “detox” from alcohol is particularly difficult for some people.

The researchers reported their findings on 25 September in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, the official journal of the Research Society on Alcoholism.

“Alcohol takes more lives in the United States and South Africa every year than opioids, but there are few effective treatments to help people who have an alcohol use disorder,” said Andrew H. Smith, lead author of the study and a research affiliate in the laboratory of senior author Joel Gelernter, Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Genetics and of Neuroscience. “For people who experience intense withdrawal symptoms, that’s one more barrier they have to face while
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Smart hospitals in Africa set to achieve more high performance facilities

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The next generation of healthcare buildings will be very different from the hospitals, clinics and general practitioner (GP) surgeries we are familiar with today.

A revolution in building design is already underway, which has largely been prompted by an acceleration of technological innovation, changing population demographics, shifts in expectations of how healthcare should be provided and environmental considerations.

In the pursuit of a prosperous future of inclusive and sustainable growth, where all African people have a high standard of living, quality of life, sound health and well-being, learning from global trends and adapting these to suit African conditions may be the key to building successful networks of healthcare infrastructure and medical facilities across the continent.

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A Gauteng hospital to be rebuilt for R1.3 billion

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Civil society organisations say that the cash-strapped province should rather save money and renovate the abandoned Kempton Park hospital.

Not only will the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development spend R127-milion to demolish the derelict Kempton Park Hospital, formerly known as Khayalami, they are planning to rebuild it for a whopping R1.3-billion.

This decision has been criticised by civil society organisations, who say the cash-strapped province should rather renovate the abandoned hospital and not waste money. The DA has promised to “closely monitor” the process.

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

Costs ‘closely matched’

Defending their decision on why they could not renovate the Ekur
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