The proposed national health insurance (NHI) came under the spotlight at a Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) conference at Sun City last week. Concerns were expressed by interested parties about the lack of consultation. The only document giving an inkling of what the government proposes to do was an ANC policy document published on its website.
According to a report in Personal Finance, Dr Olive Shisana, head of the ANC's task team on NHI, outlined the ANC's proposals for the new health system at the BHF conference. Please click here to read the article by Laura du Preez.
In a related article in Business day, concerns are expressed by two academics about the financial feasibility of the proposed scheme:
“Our fear is that the proposed NHI will fail to meet the expectations of the poor, will leave medical scheme members (including the working poor) worse off, will be massively expensive or even completely fiscally unaffordable, and will require far more doctors and nurses than are available. The danger is that it could well become a highly costly failure that will further increase frustration with service delivery.”
This was echoed by a spokesperson from the national treasury at the BHF conference. According to the Personal Finance article, “…Andrew Donaldson, the deputy director- general of public finance at the National Treasury, warned delegates that the economic environment does not allow for the creation of a healthcare service that is backed by a large budget. Donaldson cautioned against "fiscal illusion", saying resource constraints are real. An expanded, improved healthcare system has to be part of a growing, more productive economy.
Let us pray that economic realities, managed by the likes of Trevor Manuel, will force a viable solution, rather than one where political outcomes, and not the interests of the poor, is the real goal. To continuously try and redistribute wealth without any attempt at improving the creation thereof is a recipe for disaster which has proven to be "successful" in so many other African states that we do not have to repeat it here.
Closer to home, a comment from the Registrar of the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS), Patrick Matshidze, about the conduct of healthcare intermediaries have drawn strong criticism from the Financial Intermediaries Association of Southern Africa (FIA). At the launch of the CMS’ latest annual report, Matshidze stated that there is “particular concern about the presence of unscrupulous medical aid brokers who render non-value services.”
Linza van Aswegen, chairperson of the FIA’s Healthcare Benefits Committee reacted as follows:
“While this may hold true for the minority of healthcare intermediaries, this is not the case for the majority of financial advisors in the industry who work hard to add value and offer a meaningful service to thousands of consumers. It is unfair to make such a generalisation and one which could mislead members of the public to believe that all intermediaries are under suspicion of poor conduct.”
Click here to read the full press release.
Glib generalisations such as these perpetuate the negative image portrayed of us by sectors of the media. Very little, if any, credit is given to the many advisors who jumped through the hoops to get their ducks in a row in terms of becoming fit and proper, and will continue to do so.
Perhaps the time has come to establish an objective platform where the public can read the truth. A website like http://www.hellopeter.com/ already enjoys considerable success in naming and shaming bad service.
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