adminHarare – Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa has ordered medical aid insurance firms to stick to their core business and stop establishing clinics.
There have been reports that some medical aid insurance companies are directing members to their own hospitals, creating a conflict of interest.Stakeholders have accused medical aid societies of forcing patients to seek services at their clinics instead of choosing hospitals of their choice.
Dr Parirenyatwa said the current situation whereby medical aid insurers are also running clinics and hospitals is creating a conflict of interest.
“We believe that medical insurance companies should stick to medical insurance business, once they run clinics and worse order patients to their particular clinics, then it’s a conflict of interest and even more glaring,” he said.
He said government will also look into the tariffs charged by medical aid, saying current rates are exorbitant.
“As a ministry, we are going to look at that and other issues including tariffs that are being paid by patients so that we are then able to make decisions that are in the best interest of the people,” said Dr Parirenyatwa.
Premier Service Medical Aid Society, the largest medical aid society in the country, has been rocked by allegations of corrupt salaries for top management, with its former chief executive Cuthbert Dube, who was forced to retire, allegedly earning a monthly salary of about $230,000.
This triggered public outrage and government intervention given that most of the institution’s 800,000-plus members are state employees. Besides being a medical health insurer, PSMAS also established its own hospitals and clinics under a company called Premier Service Medical Investments.
Other medical aid insurers are also charging tariffs as high as $100 per month, a figure too high for most workers who are earning way less than the poverty datum line which currently stands at over $500. – New Ziana.
Online Reporter