News / Health
Defaulting medical aid societies, govt extends operating licences for 3 months
15 Jul 2016 at 07:09hrs | Views
Gerald Gwinji
THE Government has extended operating licences for defaulting medical aid societies by three months to allow them more time to acquit what they owe service providers, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr Gerald Gwinji, said yesterday. In an interview, Dr Gwinji said according to assessments done by the ministry, the majority of medical aid societies had shown commitment to pay claims from service providers.
"We've assessed the performance of medical aid societies and some have greatly improved upon their performances in terms of meeting their obligations, but we still have some that are lagging behind.
"They've made some progress but it's not good enough to be able to acquit all that they owe service providers," said Dr Gwinji. He said in light of the latest developments, the Government had given them a 90-day extension to operate as they settle their claims with service providers.
"In those 90 days they must demonstrate further commitment towards meeting their obligations," said Dr Gwinji, urging all service providers, especially doctors, to consider all medical aid cards, saying they were duly registered.
He said the Government and the medical aid societies had since come up with a plan and the societies had begun payments. "We've come up with a plan where they've begun to meet their obligations. So we're really pleading with all the service providers to offer services to anyone who presents a card from a registered medical aid society."
The Government commended ongoing discussions between service providers and health funders to resolve some of their issues. About 12 out of the 35 registered medical aid societies had been given six month temporary licences which expired last month. The temporary licences were meant to compel the societies to pay up claims with service providers.
According to regulations that govern medical aid societies, all claims should be settled within 60 days. However, according to the Zimbabwe Medical Doctors, about 90 percent of all medical aid societies were not settling within the 60-day period and were paying below gazetted tariffs.
"We've assessed the performance of medical aid societies and some have greatly improved upon their performances in terms of meeting their obligations, but we still have some that are lagging behind.
"They've made some progress but it's not good enough to be able to acquit all that they owe service providers," said Dr Gwinji. He said in light of the latest developments, the Government had given them a 90-day extension to operate as they settle their claims with service providers.
"In those 90 days they must demonstrate further commitment towards meeting their obligations," said Dr Gwinji, urging all service providers, especially doctors, to consider all medical aid cards, saying they were duly registered.
He said the Government and the medical aid societies had since come up with a plan and the societies had begun payments. "We've come up with a plan where they've begun to meet their obligations. So we're really pleading with all the service providers to offer services to anyone who presents a card from a registered medical aid society."
The Government commended ongoing discussions between service providers and health funders to resolve some of their issues. About 12 out of the 35 registered medical aid societies had been given six month temporary licences which expired last month. The temporary licences were meant to compel the societies to pay up claims with service providers.
According to regulations that govern medical aid societies, all claims should be settled within 60 days. However, according to the Zimbabwe Medical Doctors, about 90 percent of all medical aid societies were not settling within the 60-day period and were paying below gazetted tariffs.
Source - Chronicle
