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THE Zimbabwe Association of Funeral Assurers (Zafa) has agreed to a request for premium review by all its members citing adverse changes in the economy.
In a statement, the association said the pending upward review of premiums was being necessitated by changes in the economic fundamentals underpinning service delivery.
“In order to preserve the value of funeral policies as well as to maintain the standard and quality of services provided to its valued clients, Zafa has assented to a request for premium review by all its members.
“The association assented to the premium review cognisant of the changes in the economic fundamentals underpinning service delivery,” it said.
Zafa said its members would make individual announcements to their respective clients detailing the intended premium review.
Meanwhile, medical aid societies under their umbrella body, the Association of Healthcare Funders of Zimbabwe (AHFoZ), have also agreed to increase the fees payable to healthcare service providers with effect from Monday.
This comes as private healthcare service providers last year moved to start charging their patients in United States dollars.
However, AHFoZ has said the increases only apply to Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) transactions.
The health funders’ association has increased payments to hospitals by 30 percent and those paid to all other service providers, including doctors and dentists, have been raised by 40 percent.
Of late, a majority of pharmacies in Zimbabwe have been refusing to issue drugs to patients on medical insurance, insisting on cash payments.
Last October, some private doctors began turning away patients on medical aid.
Zimbabwe uses a multi-currency system that is largely based on the United States dollar, but foreign currency shortages have given rise to a parallel foreign currency market.
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