Two-year transition period for insurers to phase out primary healthcare policies
Insurance companies are to be granted a two-year transition period to phase out existing primary healthcare insurance policies which they will be prohibited from providing under the final demarcation regulations gazetted by the Treasury on Friday. The new regulations — which have been the subject of consultation for years and will create a line of demarcation between health insurance and medical aid products — are to take effect on April 1 2017. They stipulate that primary healthcare insurance policies will in future be provided only within the framework of the Medical Schemes Act. However, the Treasury said in a statement that Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi had asked the Council of Medical Schemes to grant a two-year exemption for primary healthcare insurance policies while further research was led by the Department of Health into the development of a low-cost benefit option guideline. "It is envisaged that the existing primary healthcare insurance policies will be required to tr...
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