The national Department of Health says private medical schemes will be charged more than R300 a shot to access the 51-million doses of COVID-19 vaccines secured for the second phase of SA’s vaccine rollout, reports BusinessLIVE.
Private medical schemes will be billed R354.75 (inclusive of VAT) for a dose for the Pfizer vaccine. The J&J vaccine will be billed at R330 a dose.
Healthcare facilities will charge an additional R70 for administering each vaccine, confirming details on the electronic vaccine data system (EVDS), providing counselling, and covering the cost of vaccine waste and other expenditure.
That is more than double the $10 (about R140) health minister Zweli Mkhize previously told Parliament. The extra cost does not include a subsidy for non-medical aid members, department deputy director-general Anban Pillay told Business Day.
The vaccines are being stored and delivered to healthcare facilities by two distributors, state-linked Biovac and DSV. “Private sector institutions wishing to procure the vaccine will be required to open new accounts with the distributors and agree to the trading terms and conditions and credit mandate of the NDoH [national department of health]," according to Sandile Buthelezi, director-general at the DoH. .
For insured patients, the cost of administration will be paid in full by their medical schemes as this is a prescribed minimum benefit. Uninsured patients who are referred to a private healthcare providers by the EVDS will have the cost of the vaccine and the administration thereof covered by the department.