There has been much debate around the 1% value-added tax (VAT), its impact on consumers and just how this will affect the money left in their pockets at the end of the month. With the revised general fuel levy, it’s clear that consumers will have to tighten their belts and adhere to stricter budgets. The..
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VAT increase won’t impact on medical aid contributions
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#Budget2018: Cuts to medical aid tax credits begin
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Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba didn’t cut state subsidies for private medical aid members outright but your pocket may still feel the pinch.
The National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme seems to be back on track. On Wednesday, Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba announced a 49% increase over three years for a conditional grant that goes to the
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#LifeEsidimeni: Motsoaledi and Makhura could be forced to pay up from their pockets
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Those who oversaw the removal of mental health patients could face the full wrath of the law as could those standing by as KZN’s cancer care fails.
Gauteng health department officials could be criminally charged with culpable homicide for their roles in the Life Esidimeni scandal, says David McQuoid-Mason, a law professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Socio-Legal Studies.
He believes former Gauteng health MEC Qedani Mahlangu, her former head of department, Barney Selebano, and the mental health services director, Makgoba Manamela, could be convicted of culpable homicide if prosecutors can prove their negligence caused the deaths of at least 144 patients and that these deaths were illegal. McQuoid-Mason was speaking at a lecture hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics last week.
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Discovery Health recovers R568m through fraud-control activities in 2017
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According to Discovery Health CEO, Dr Jonathan Broomberg, efforts to curb fraud in the healthcare system resulted in R568m recovered on behalf of client schemes in 2017, compared to R405m in 2016. Further, fraud-control activities in which health professionals and others contemplating fraud desist from committing fraud in reaction to visible policing and action by Discovery Health, prevented additional fraud to the value of approximately R3bn over the last two years, adds Broomberg.
Discovery Health has invested substantially in fighting the scourge of healthcare fraud. Efforts include the deployment of a specialised team of over 100 analysts and professional investigators as well as a proprietary forensic software system that uses sophisticated algorithms to analyse claims data and identify any unusual claim patterns. Invaluable tip-offs from whistleblowers also help to identify fraud.
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Life Esidimeni families want R1.5m each for constitutional damage
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On top of the R200‚000 compensation for emotional shock‚ psychological injury and funeral expenses from the State‚ Life Esidimeni families want each claimant to receive R1.5-million for constitutional damage redress.
On Thursday‚ the Life Esidimeni arbitration convened for closing arguments in Parktown‚ Johannesburg. Though the two parties agreed on the emotional trauma claim under common law‚ in respect of the claim for constitutional damages‚ the State and Section 27 did not reach an agreement.
Section 27 Advocate Adila Hassim argued why the State should compensate the families for the violation of constitutional rights.
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Private Healthcare in SA – continued decline and a possible solution
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We entered 2017 reeling from a series of double-digit medical insurance premium hikes. It was becoming clear that schemes are in trouble; undercut by unregulated, selective insurance products and forced into tighter and tighter modes of managing care delivered.
We were facing an affordability crisis then – that, without serious systematic change, schemes will be unable to derail their progression towards shrinking memberships and eventual collapse.
Moving into 2018, scheme’s reserves are under threat, memberships are stagnant and the system continues, for the most part, to tolerate overutilisation of hospital services while failing to invest in strengthening community-level care. Alternative fee models remain tentative and marginal, neither inspiring nor supporting any structural changes in the fragmented way healthcare services are delivered. In light of this, I predict the following for the coming year:
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Probe launched after patient falls from bed – RIP MR JC Botha
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Photo’s not for sensitive viewers. The provincial health department is investigating an incident at Livingstone Hospital’s oncology unit after the family of a terminally ill Sidwell man found him hanging half off the bed, his face covered in blood. The family claim they called for 10 minutes for a nurse before someone came to help..
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Discovery Health recovers R568m through fraud-control activities in 2017
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According to Discovery Health CEO, Dr Jonathan Broomberg, efforts to curb fraud in the healthcare system resulted in R568m recovered on behalf of client schemes in 2017, compared to R405m in 2016. Further, fraud-control activities in which health professionals and others contemplating fraud desist from committing fraud in reaction to visible policing and action by..
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Medical aids spying on doctors with hidden cameras – High Court claim
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The National Healthcare Professionals Association of South Africa has filed papers in the Pretoria High Court accusing 19 medical aid schemes of spying on doctors and sneaking hidden cameras into their consulting rooms. The Sunday Times reported that medical aids are also allegedly holding back payments to doctors due to unproven misconduct. The association –..
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Bejaarde man wat 15 dae lank op ’n noodoperasie gewag het, sterf
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Die Vrystaatse gesondheidsdepartement ontken enige aandadigheid aan die dood van ’n pasiënt wat 15 dae lank op ’n noodoperasie gewag het. Frederick Thiart (77) van Edenburg is 14 Desember dood, twee dae nadat sy been geamputeer is. Thiart, ’n diabeet, het met erge pyn en gangreen in sy een been in die Pelonomi-hospitaal in Bloemfontein..
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