BusinessLive writes that Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s plans for a uniform tariff for healthcare services might prompt doctors to quit the profession or seek jobs overseas.  

Last Tuesday the minister presented to a cabinet committee the Medical Schemes Amendment Bill, which contains proposals that would introduce a uniform tariff for healthcare providers and put an end to copayments.  At present there are no regulations governing the rates that doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers charge.  If patients are presented with a bill for a consultation or procedure that is more than their medical scheme is willing to pay, they are liable for the balance.  The SA Private Practitioners Forum, which represents doctors in private practice, said it was not opposed to a tariff guideline provided it was based on the cost of running a practice.  But, doctors should be permitted to charge higher rates if they had good reason to do so.  Forum CEO Chris Archer said:  "What are they going to use to inform the process [of determining tariffs]?  If it is just a thumb-suck, it will cause untold damage to the private sector and a lot of young doctors will be forced into some other form of enterprise or to emigrate.  You cannot provide a service below cost."  The pricing free-for-all in the private healthcare sector is partly due to a decision by the Competition Commission in 2003 that banned collective bargaining between medical schemes and service providers.

• Read this informative report by Tamar Kahn in full at BusinessLive

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