Roy Watson's Column

Dispensing doctors likely to get their way

There is every likelihood that the dispensing doctors will get their 30% fee increase following an out-of-court settlement and “agreement in principle” reached between health minister Barbara Hogan and the National Convention on Dispensing (NCD) in early January. The NCD had served court papers on the Department of Health in December in a bid to resolve the issue. According to NCD chairman, Dr Norman Mabasa, all that remains is that the figure suggested after consultation between the minister and the NCD be given to the pricing committee which in turn will assess and then recommend to the minister for publication. He did add, however, that the minister and her team had said the NCD must not withdraw the court case until what had been agreed upon was in writing.

NHI/SHI terminology confusion warning

Well-known health economist and strategist, Alex van den Heever, has warned against the “use and abuse” of terminology such as NHI and SHI, particularly with references to strategic health reform. At a recent seminar in Johannesburg he said that the history of discussions on strategic health configurations for South Africa had involved a fairly liberal use of terminology. He made particular reference to the ANC’s Polokwane declaration on a national health insurance (NHI) system “to strengthen the country’s public health care system”. Van den Heever said that such an insurance would not strengthen public health: “Rather I assume they meant a move towards a universal health system.” He went on to point out that South Africa needs 30 years of development before an effective universal insurance system can be introduced.

NHRPL prompts scrapping of HPCSA tariffs

The Department of Health’s new processes around the NHRPL eliminate the need for the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) to determine its own tariff - a tariff which has historically been three times higher than the NHRPL. Making this announcement in a year-end statement, HPCSA registrar Adv Boyce Mkhize noted that the HPCSA ethical tariffs were previously used to guide the Council in determining whether or not a practitioner had over-charged a patient. By implication, the advent of the NHRPL made this no longer necessary. In its reaction, the Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) said the decision would empower consumers to make informed decisions on the cost of health care procedures and consultations. It would also reduce confusion among service providers who have had to contend with multiple tariff structures.

Discovery’s timing unfortunate: BHF

The Discovery Health Medical Scheme believes that the future of private health care in South Africa fundamentally depends on a collaborative approach between all stakeholders, which will itself require strong, representative leadership across the spectrum of private healthcare. The scheme made this statement when announcing that it had resigned from the Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) near the end of last year. “In the context of the current health policy debates and complex private health care environment, the Discovery Health Medical Scheme does not believe that its members are receiving value for money for the substantial membership fees paid each year to the Board of Healthcare Funders,” it added. The BHF noted in a prompt online response that Discovery’s timing was unfortunate “at this critical time in the South African health care debate”.