BRONWYN NORTJE: Timing of Aaron Motsoaledi’s medical scheme plans raises questions
The health minister could at least have pretended to evaluate the health market inquiry recommendations
The announcement last week by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi that a major shake-up of the medical scheme industry is on the cards raises more questions than answers. According to statements made to Business Day, Motsoaledi presented a raft of proposals related to the Medical Schemes Amendment Bill to an undisclosed cabinet committee, including new rules on benefits, prices and governance. Crucially, the amendments will enforce uniform tariffs for services and prohibit copayments. The merits of the proposed changes aside, I can’t help but wonder why there was such a rush to announce these changes before the publication of the Competition Commission’s health market inquiry provisional report at the end of May. The inquiry’s findings and recommendations were expected at the end of April, but it was announced in that month that the deadline would be pushed out to May 31 "to afford HMI [health market inquiry] experts sufficient time to assess and interrogate submissions raised in stake...
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