Affordability need not be an impenetrable barrier to accessing healthcare

Patrick Lubbe

Access to quality primary healthcare no longer a bridge too far for SA’s workforce

With the employed but medically uninsured market in South Africa now estimated at 5.5 million people, affordability has in many ways become an impenetrable barrier to accessing quality healthcare services in our country.

This is the view of Patrick Lubbe, chief executive officer of National HealthCare Group. “Broadly speaking a lack of access to healthcare cover has resulted in a negative impact on productivity, which is affecting the profitability and ultimately the sustainability of businesses, as well as negatively contributing to our economy.

“The quality of life of employees, on the other hand, is impacted while earnings potential is substantially reduced thereby risking job security in a country where the unemployment rate was at 32.9% in the third quarter of 2022,” notes Lubbe.

“When it comes to the overall health and wellbeing of South Africa’s workforce there are a number of additional worrying factors that need to be considered by employers looking to ensure a healthy, productive workforce,” he says.
• Only 27% of South Africans have access to private healthcare while the majority, some 71%, are reliant on overburdened public health services.
• A minimum of 20% of blue-collar workers are diabetic and are generally unaware of this, which means their condition remains untreated.
• According to the World Health Organization the growth of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as heart disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, and diabetes is responsible for as much as 37% of productivity losses.

“Given the vulnerability of consumer finances against a background of increased interest rates, which are now 3.5% higher than in 2021 along with a general slowdown in growth prospects, there is little hope on the horizon for the average working South African. This means that healthcare cover has in many instances become a bridge too far for the average employed individual with more and more working people looking to employers to provide at least some form of healthcare cover.

“While our nation’s current economic position is far from ideal, there are options available to employers who may not yet be able to implement salary increases but who are looking for meaningful ways to add value for employees in the here and now.

“So many employers are not aware of the significant difference they could make to the healthcare experience of their employees for even the most nominal amount. With a budget starting at just R99 per employee per month you can fully alter their primary healthcare experience and begin to reshape this very human aspect of your business. The low-cost and emerging healthcare market is a relatively new segment of the greater South African healthcare landscape and here there is a reservoir of innovation that forward-thinking companies can tap into,” says Lubbe.

Solution-driven healthcare
According to Lubbe National HealthCare Group took its product and service offering to the four corners of South Africa in 2022. “Bolstered by the reach and level of service that our national healthcare provider network of more than 12 000, we have made tremendous strides in broadening healthcare access by partnering with prestigious organisations such as TymeBank, with the digital app based TymeHealth product, and Standard Bank with the newly launched BeWell employer funded solution. In addition, we also offer clients and their employees access to a range of quality, affordable medical scheme and health insurance product solutions,” he notes.

Lubbe says the answer to healthcare access and affordability lies in technology-driven primary healthcare products that are highly affordable for the employer and streamlined for the employee. “By being able to immediately contact a nurse who will set up a doctor’s appointment if needed, giving you access to medication, blood tests, x-rays, dentistry, optometry and so on, your day-to-day healthcare concerns are taken care of efficiently and effectively to the benefit of both the employee and employer.

“Financial health is without question an essential component of employee wellbeing, and any product of this nature that takes that full picture into account will provide for a full suite of primary healthcare services as well as trauma, debt and legal counselling.

“At National HealthCare Group we are seeing that by giving more South Africans access to affordable, quality primary healthcare, we can help to improve their day-to-day wellbeing, enhance productivity, and contribute to improved economic growth and prosperity. In this way we are supporting the productivity and the profitability of South African businesses. As we all know there is a direct societal benefit in that this ultimately drives the growth of the nation,” concludes Lubbe.