The proposed National Health Insurance scheme will create significant risk as it limits the cover offered by medical aids, says medical scheme Discovery.
Not solve the misdistribution of health professional resources in the healthcare system as there is a chronic shortage of health professionals, particularly specialists, across public and private sectors. “We are concerned that there is a raft of proposed amendments to other legislation which can have the effect of removing cover that people currently have before there is any alternative in place. Such amendments transfer large liabilities to taxpayers before the cost of these have been properly quantified and planned for,” said professor Roseanne Harris, head of Discovery Health’s Health Policy Unit.
“Medical schemes would not be able to opt-out of funding NHI, and would have the opportunity to provide additional cover. Virtual pooling is achieved by having a common service package with regulated costing and pooling of risk on an appropriately managed basis. Those who can afford it could contribute to medical schemes for seamless coverage.”
This can never work in this country, SOEs cannot even keep the lights on (literally). How on earth is Discovery_SA saying any part of it will work? How can the tax payers even be asked to fund yet another government disaster