The new bill proposes price controls in the private sector, including a national price list, which will severely punish those medical professionals who do not follow the prescribed pricing list.
businesstech.co.za quotes the director of healthcare at Werksmans Attorneys, Neil Kirby, who told a Sunday rag that given the current scarcity of doctors in South Africa it would not be a good strategy to freeze out those who did not stick to NHI rates.
Norton Rose Fulbright director Michelle David says doctors would not want to be told what to charge, especially as the largest purchaser of services (the government), will also be able to set tariffs.
In addition to a number of legal cases that are now beginning to materialise, some analysts have also cautioned that the amendments could lead to a brain drain from South Africa. Speaking to the Sunday Times, Graham Anderson, principal officer of Profmed medical scheme, said that if doctors were forced to drastically change how much they will charge they would emigrate, and that emigration was the main cause of members leaving Profmed – which caters to people in the professions.
“Private healthcare is an essential service,” he warned. “If they are going to trash the private sector in order to get the public sector up and running, doctors are going to go. If the doctors emigrate then other professionals, who can afford to leave, will go because they want healthcare for their children.”
