The financial ruin of medical scheme Health Squared could not be blamed solely on the pandemic, but rather, on maladministration, the scheme’s curator has revealed in a provisional report, with the company spending R80m annually on administration, management and marketing fees despite “bleeding members”.
This was disclosed by Council for Medical Aid Schemes (CMS) registrar Dr Sipho Kabane in an affidavit in support of a High Court application heard last week for the postponement of the winding-up hearing of the scheme, reports Moneyweb.
Judge J Wright ordered that Health Squared’s liquidation application be postponed until various other High Court applications have been finally determined, or the facts and circumstances change sufficiently to warrant the setting down of the liquidation application.
Health Squared’s management lodged an application in the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) on 18 August 2022 to liquidate the scheme, advising members that the voluntary winding up would be effective from 1 September 2022. However, the company was then placed under provisional curatorship from 8 September 2022, after a High Court application brought by the CMS.
Johannes Seoloane, a former CEO of Sanlam Health, was appointed provisional curator of Health Squared.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Health Squared under provisional curatorship
Health Squared gets leave to apply for voluntary liquidation
Health Squared spent millions on non-essentials as membership shrank, court papers show
Health Squared medical aid scheme applies to be wound up