AMENDMENTS ON THE CARDS

Amendments to the Medical Schemes Act have been drafted by the Council for Medical Schemes and are now awaiting approval by the Department of Health.

However, many of the changes that were included in a 2008 amendment bill that was withdrawn from Parliament may be absent from the current bill.

Registrar of Medical Schemes Dr Monwabisi Gantsho told the Board of Healthcare Funders conference this week that the amendments that will have the most impact are those that address improvements to the management of scheme information, membership, prescribed minimum benefits (PMBs), the council’s complaints and appeals procedures, and scheme governance.

Gantsho told Personal Finance that the PMBs will be renamed “mandatory minimum benefits” and implemented in line with international standards on these benefits. Parts of the code of conduct on PMBs will be incorporated into the Medical Schemes Act and its regulations.

The controversial regulation that least for employed people), he says.

To strengthen the private healthcare system, policymakers discussed the introduction of low-income schemes, a package of common benefits that was priced for an entire scheme rather than by option, and income cross-subsidies (where high earners subsidise the contributions of low earners). These measures were scheduled to be implemented, but fell off the radar when government shifted its healthcare policy focus to the implementation of NHI.

Raath says that schemes are now stuck halfway on a reform path that has been stopped.