Two new health bills
Cabinet has also approved two new health bills to be published in the Government Gazette for public comment.
The Medical Schemes Amendment Bill of 2018 seeks to amend the current Medical Schemes Act to align it with the National Health Insurance White Paper and the Draft National Health Insurance Fund Bill.
Among other changes the Bill proposes uniform tariffs for healthcare providers in South Africa, as well as a proposed prohibition of members being charged co-payments.
“The bill, among others, seeks to improve the regulation of the medical schemes industry and to also align the regulatory framework to the changes that have taken place over the past decade in the sector,” said Mokonyane.
“This bill will also ensure that beneficiaries are better protected and promotes better access to private health funding,” the minister said.
The second major health-related piece of legislation approved by government was the State Liability Amendment Bill.
“It provides for the settlement structure of claims against the State that came as a result of wrongful medical treatment of persons by servants of the State,” Mokonyane said.
“This will provide for a reduced impact of lump sum payments on the budgets of public hospitals, and will increase the financial resources available to provincial hospitals to provide health care services,” she said.