Karl Gernetzky: Business Day

GREATER competition is necessary to contain private healthcare costs, while consolidation in the sector may leave room for only a few large providers. Kevin Aron, MD of Medscheme warned yesterday that private hospital costs were unsustainable.

Shanaaz Eggington: The Sunday Times

IN CANADA, 22 percent of working doctors were trained in Africa - with most of them from South Africa and Zimbabwe. This is revealed in a study, published in the British Medical Journal, of the impact of doctors who leave their countries to pursue career opportunities abroad.

Londiwe Buthelezi: Business Report

PENSIONERS who spend a large portion of their retirement income on medical bills may be better off under the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) system, according to experts. Olabode Olajumoke, an employee benefits actuary at Aon Hewitt South Africa, said the need for comprehensive health cover was more critical for the elderly as their medical needs increased as they grew older.

Wyndham Hartley: Business Day

HEALTH Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has told Parliament that the proposed independent office of health standards compliance is a vital step for the introduction of a National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme. The Minister again repeated that the poor conditions in the public health sector had to improve drastically if an NHI was to be successfully implemented, and said the office of compliance was intended to ensure that this happened.

Lullu Krugel: BusinessLIVE

AFTER the South African government released its long expected Policy Paper on National Health Insurance (NHI) funding on 11 August 2011, quite a few questions remained unanswered. For that reason, market commentators are anticipating more clarity from the National Budget Speech, in particular regarding the funding mechanism form NHI. According to the Policy Paper, government planned for an additional R145 billion funding requirement in real 2010 prices for the roll-out of NHI over the next 14 years.

Editorial Comment: Business Day

THE announcement by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi on Friday that the Department of Health is to embark on a joint venture to invest R1bn in the construction of a factory to produce antiretroviral ingredients is another example of the Minister's obvious commitment to improving the South African public health system. The purpose of the joint venture with Swiss pharmaceutical manufacturer Lonza is to reduce SA's dependence on imported drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS, while at the same time promoting domestic manufacturing.

Londiwe Buthelezi

The 2012 benefit cycle might prove more difficult for smaller medical schemes and could threaten the existence of smaller players in the open schemes environment, health insurance experts said yesterday.

Global Credit Ratings (GCR) said that medical schemes faced a number of challenges in the short term, including slow membership growth, and schemes might find the forthcoming benefit cycle tougher than expected, as the ruling on paying prescribed minimum benefits (PMBs) in full was predicted to have a negative effect on some scheme’s finances.

Redi Thlhabi: The Sunday Times

THE government wants South Africans to support the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, and those questioning its feasibility have been accused of being elitist and not wanting to share resources with the public sector. In the minds of our very sensitive politicians, there is no distinction between questioning and opposing. In light of the shambles in some provincial health departments, we are right to ask, "How will they make the NHI work?" I cannot fathom why any decent person would oppose endeavours to provide healthcare for all. It is a no-brainer.

Hopewell Radebe & Karl Gernetzky: Business Day

HEALTH Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has vowed to tackle the negative perceptions over standards and quality of primary healthcare facilities, saying greater utilisation of clinics, alongside a campaign against diseases caused by poor lifestyles, could reduce pressure on overburdened hospitals. Motsoaledi's comments came amid media reports of child deaths in some hospitals around the country, seen as indicative of a collapsing national health infrastructure.