Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi should withdraw the Medical Schemes Amendment Bill, until the Competition Commission finalises the Health Market Inquiry, according to Andre Jacobs, an executive at ASI Financial Services.
There are currently three key documents affecting the healthcare sector in South Africa, the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill and the Medical Schemes Amendment Bill published for comment in June and the Health Market Inquiry preliminary report released on July 5.
The preliminary report of the four-year investigation into the private healthcare sector, by the Competition Commission found that the market “displays consistently rising medical scheme premiums accompanied by increasing out-of-pocket payments for the insured … and a progressively decreasing range of services covered by medical scheme options.”
Stakeholders in the private healthcare sector and the public have until September 7 to comment on the 800-page report and the Health Market Inquiry will then consider all representations and publish the final report by the end of November. …..more