HEALTHCARE BENEFITS
New demarcation regulations to ‘curb current market abuse’
The Treasury concedes the demarcation regulations are not a cure-all for ongoing market abuses in the healthcare sector
The Treasury has defended the new demarcation regulations, saying they will protect consumers by curbing current abuses in the market. Ismail Momoniat, the Treasury’s head of the tax and financial sector policy, said the regulations were an attempt to rid the system of the worst problems, but conceded introducing the demarcation regulations would not solve all the problems bedevilling the system. "We are not saying this [introduction of demarcation regulations] is a perfect solution, we are hoping this will stop the abuses that are happening currently," Momoniat said. "There’s a lot of bad market practices, and what we are doing is just a small step towards eliminating the worst problems. But [we are] ... far from getting to the heart of the matter, which is that most medical aids are not affordable — that is why most South Africans don’t have [cover]. "[The] underlying [problem] is that health costs are out of control," he said. The demarcation regulations were published in the Gov...
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