Countless working-class South Africans can no longer afford medical aid, according to general secretary of the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council Frikkie de Bruin, with people having to decide between feeding their families and their daily expenses or forking out for medical scheme premiums.
As of last year, just 15.8% of the population belonged to a medical aid (9.9% of the members being black).
“This gives you a sense of the enormous burden of care to the public health system and of how important it is for DPSA (Department of Public Service & Administration) and our stakeholders to break the societal barriers … in both the private and public sectors,” said Public Service & Administration Minister Chana Pilane-Majake.
News24 reports that Pilane-Majake and De Bruin were among those speaking at last week’s Government Emergency Medical Scheme (GEMS) 14th annual symposium in Johannesburg, where the Minister said the health equity gap indicated a broader societal inequity that could no longer stand.
"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhumane. And so, one of the questions we must ask is how do we bring humanity to our healthcare ecosystem. The kind of humanity that is thoroughly considered and lays fertile ground for healthcare innovation and, ultimately, equity,” she said.
People need day-to-day money
De Bruin said several low-income employees did not pay for medical aid but used the money as part of their disposable income to address their day-to-day financial needs.
“Half of all working South Africans live in poverty. These adverse conditions make the social determinants of health even more significant towards the overall health of the working class.”
He said some initiatives and programmes have been established and rolled out, with the aim of reducing inequality.
“But these have often been fragmented and not focused on improved health outcomes. The heavy financial requirements on an already strained workforce are resulting in a deprioritisation of personal healthcare, with many employees opting for cash-in-hand to navigate daily expenses,” he said.
Chief healthcare officer at GEMS Dr Vuyo Gqola said there were tremendous disparities between the public and private healthcare sectors, and that there were several opportunities to create a more efficient and sustainable system by implementing value-based care models that “give due consideration to the social determinants of health”.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Shrinking proportion of South Africans on medical aid
Medical aid schemes shrink, but member numbers grow