The Council for Medical Schemes will now entertain complaints about insurance policies that provide cover for primary healthcare services, a medical scheme conference heard this week. More than 200,000 people, including many members of bargaining councils, use these policies as they are unable to afford the protection of medical scheme membership. These policies and those that provide payouts covering actual hospital expenses can no longer be offered as insurance policies, following the release of regulations under legislation governing long- and short-term insurance. These clarify what is regarded as the business of medical scheme and what medical expenses insurers can cover. Companies offering primary healthcare plans as well as hospital indemnity policies are expected to register these plans as medical schemes. They have been allowed to apply for a two-year exemption from this. The council had granted 35 exemptions covering 117 primary healthcare plans and 87 policies that provid...
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