Business as usual at Liberty Medical Scheme

The Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) released an industry statement on 17 November 2006 pertaining to its approval of proposed medical scheme benefits for 2007 that may have caused concern amongst both consumers and those directly involved in the industry.

In light of this, Liberty Medical Scheme Executive Principal Officer Andrew Edwards explains that by law, medical schemes are required to submit any changes to benefits and contributions to the Registrar for approval, prior to these changes coming into effect.

"This is a standard process which occurs annually and which often includes discussions with the Council around our submission, so this year is really no different.

"Given the huge amount of work and thoughtful consideration we put into our 2007 product design and pricing, we are confident that once we are able to engage in meaningful discussion with the Council, the matter will be resolved without any negative impact on our membership base and scheme.

"We are therefore progressing the introduction of our 2007 options on a business as usual basis and our members have already received their detailed brochures to assist them in deciding on their option choices for next year," explains Edwards.

The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) has also issued a statement on the back of the CMS communication, aimed at re-assuring members of medical schemes that in terms of the Medical Schemes Act, a registered scheme option will not automatically lapse

The BHF stresses that scheme rules, as approved by the Registrar for 2006, continue to apply and if the proposed amendments to options are not approved, it simply means that the options will continue to operate on the same basis into 2007.

It also points out that of the 90 options across the industry, not approved by the Registrar the majority have not been rejected outright but rather require a revision by the schemes to assess the impact on members and their contributions.

Looking ahead, the Liberty Medical Scheme would also like to engage the CMS on current anomalies in the timing requirements that form part of the existing approval process.