Discovery CEO Adrian Gore told the PSG Think Big webinar series that some people who have emigrated from SA in search of greener pastures are coming back to access the country’s “remarkable” private healthcare system.
Gore on Tuesday said a lot was at stake if the National Health Insurance (NHI) bill is enacted as it stands, saying it will harm the thriving private healthcare system.
“The quality of our private healthcare system is remarkable, not that it can’t improve. But the quality of our doctors, the quality of care and the speed of treatment if you have cancer or whatever it may be, you get access to the best quality drugs,” Gore said.
“If you need a scan you can have it on the day you need it. That’s unusual compared to other countries in the world. South Africans are increasingly appreciating that. I see a lot of people who have emigrated who actually come back for healthcare that they need ... we should preserve assets that are working, not all things have to be in decline.”
Discovery, in its annual report released last month, flagged the implementation of NHI in its current form as the second-biggest risk facing the group, surpassed only by the global rising cost-of-living crisis and higher than SA’s energy constraints.
The bill has been approved by the National Assembly and is before the National Council of Provinces for consideration before formal parliamentary sign-off and presidential promulgation.
Concerns have been raised about the NHI’s funding as input from the Treasury and the supporting money bill have not been disclosed or debated.
The NHI bill currently says that when it is fully implemented, medical schemes can’t provide cover for items covered by NHI.
Medical schemes may then only offer complementary cover to services not reimbursable by the NHI fund.
Gore said funding for the NHI without private sector participation is a quagmire. This was because the public sector spends about R425 per person a month, against the more than R2,000 spent by its private sector counterparts.
“We are told that the NHI scheme might require another R200bn to R300bn to fund. This is where the problem comes. The only way to get that money is to raise taxes. You will have to raise income tax by 30% or more to raise R200bn. If you were to do that or raise VAT from 15% to 22%, I would argue that you would destroy the economy. Assume that you do raise R200bn, what would that buy you?” Gore asked.
“Assuming it is fully implemented, you would have to raise R200bn by raising taxes by 30%, but the R200bn only takes you from R425 a month to about R680. You don’t get the dramatic increase in finance available per person. The medical scheme members who are funding it are currently spending R2,400 per person per month. This means you would have increased taxes for people who are working by 30% and you would lower their healthcare by 70%.”
Discovery Health is SA’s leading medical scheme administrator, managing 39.1% of the total membership of SA medical schemes, including Discovery Health Medical Scheme, the country’s largest open medical scheme, now representing 57.8% of the open medical scheme market.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.