Posts tagged with 'Presidential Health Summit'

 

Billions are lost due to Doctors, hospitals and medical aid members collude to commit fraud

Posted on Leave a comment

The Special Investigating Unit says it is actively targeting fraudsters in the private healthcare sector.

Fraud, waste and abuse is costing the private healthcare system more than R22-billion, and if you submit false claims, you could face more than just being terminated from your scheme, the Council for Medical Schemes warned at its summit on fraud this week.

The event comes after deputy president David Mabuza announced at the Presidential Health Summit that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) would be honing in on the healthcare sector.

“We want independent investigations that are turned around quickly and submit and identify findings appropriately,” Mabuza said at the October gathering.

The CMS estimates that fraud, abuse or waste accounts for about 15% of the R160-billion in claims that medical aids pay out annually.

The head of the SIU, advocate Andy Mothibi, said the body is working with the National Prosecuting Authority to help ensure tha
Continue reading…

Share with friends on Social Media (if share buttons do not show below, disable your ad blocker temporarily):

Enjoyed this post? Share it!

 
 

The National Health Insurance (NHI): Who’s in, who’s out and how much will it cost

Posted on Leave a comment

The NHI was the centre of the presidential health summit. Now the pressure is mounting for Treasury to figure out how to fund it.

NEWS ANALYSIS

The health system is in crisis, government officials admit. Now, they have just weeks to produce an initial plan on how to fix it ahead of introducing a National Health Insurance (NHI), Deputy President David Mabuza revealed this weekend.

With its namesake, President Cyril Ramaphosa was absent from the presidential health summit. The gathering drew more than 100 representatives from civil society, government, unions, academia and the private sector. Prior to the event, that was held in Boksburg, each delegate received a 21-page concept note outlining challenges within the health system — this included corruption and how the NHI will incorporate the private sector.

Solutions proposed during the meeting will now form the basis for wider consultation ahead of a public plan to turn the health system.
Continue reading…

Share with friends on Social Media (if share buttons do not show below, disable your ad blocker temporarily):

Enjoyed this post? Share it!

 
 

Why are the private sector remaining wary of universal healthcare

Posted on Leave a comment

Globally, one in four private healthcare groups surveyed won’t work with governments. Whether the National Health Insurance (NHI) succeeds or fails will depend on public-private partnerships. But the scheme will have to overcome more than just money woes to get the two sectors to settle old quarrels if new research is any indication.

Under the NHI, a centralised fund will procure a package of services from both the public and private sectors on behalf of South Africans. But it’s unclear how this will work and South Africa isn’t the only country trying to figure this out. Countries such as Indonesia, Egypt and Kenya are also looking to buy services from the private sector as part of the move towards universal healthcare.

But a recent survey of 20 of the world’s biggest private healthcare providers showed many remain wary of working with governments. Collectively, these companies owned 500 hospitals and 7 000 clinics across 40 low- and middle-income coun
Continue reading…

Share with friends on Social Media (if share buttons do not show below, disable your ad blocker temporarily):

Enjoyed this post? Share it!

 
 

Wonderful News:- R500m to recruit health professionals, buy beds and linen

Posted on Leave a comment

Government will reprioritise funds to make R350m available to recruit new health professionals, says Finance Minister Tito Mboweni.

The Minister tabled the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in the National Assembly on Wednesday.

“Access to healthcare services is enshrined in our Constitution and in our Bill of Rights. We will continue to work closely with the national Department of Health and other role players to ensure that the gradual phased implementation of the National Health Insurance is adequately financed.

“We are immediately reprioritising R350m to recruit in excess of 2,000 health professionals into public health facilities,” he said.

Mboweni said a further reprioritisation of funds will avail R150m to be used to purchase beds and linen for hospitals where the need is more dire.

These two interventions will build on the Presidential Health Summit convened last weekend, which has brought a new focus to improving the quality of healthcar
Continue reading…

Share with friends on Social Media (if share buttons do not show below, disable your ad blocker temporarily):

Enjoyed this post? Share it!

 
 

The National Health Insurance (NHI): Who’s in, who’s out and how much will it cost

Posted on Leave a comment

The NHI was the centre of this weekend’s Presidential Health Summit. Now the pressure is mounting for Treasury to figure out how to fund it.

The health system is in crisis, government officials admit. Now, they have just weeks to produce an initial plan on how to fix it ahead of introducing a National Health Insurance (NHI), Deputy President David Mabuza revealed this weekend.

With its namesake, President Cyril Ramaphosa was absent from this weekend’s Presidential Health Summit. The gathering drew more than 100 representatives from civil society, government, unions, academia and the private sector. Prior to the event, that was held in Boksburg. each delegate received a 21-page concept note outlining challenges within the health system. including corruption and how the NHI will incorporate the private sector.

Solutions proposed during the meeting will now form the basis for wider consultation ahead of a public plan to turn the health system. The strategy i
Continue reading…

Share with friends on Social Media (if share buttons do not show below, disable your ad blocker temporarily):

Enjoyed this post? Share it!

 
 

Ageing health infrastructure in South-Africa must receive urgent attention

Posted on Leave a comment

Deputy President David Mabuza has announced that government will prioritise the upgrading and maintenance of health infrastructure in an effort to deal with the challenge of ageing and dilapidated infrastructure in public health facilities.

Mabuza made the remark while highlighting the outcomes of the two-day Presidential Health Summit held in Boksburg.

During the summit, Mabuza said, it was agreed that in the context of fiscal constraints, provinces will be expected to prioritise their financial resource allocations in a manner that ensures that the delivery of health care is not compromised.

“More importantly, this summit pointed out that we need to develop a sustainable financing model for our health system. We will commence with this task immediately.

“National Treasury will be seized with this task to ensure that this model is finalised within a short space of time.

“As we lay a solid foundation for the implementation of the NHI, government wi
Continue reading…

Share with friends on Social Media (if share buttons do not show below, disable your ad blocker temporarily):

Enjoyed this post? Share it!