Survey Shows South Africans Concerned with Rising Healthcare Costs

April 1 - The rising cost of healthcare in South African is a cause of major concern for medical schemes, brokers and employers.

These were the findings of a recent poll undertaken in South Africa by the OMAC Actuaries and Consultants Healthcare Survey and released in Johannesburg this week.

The survey administered in-depth interviews with employers, brokers and schemes and is considered the most comprehensive study on the industry for quite some time.

"As far as we are aware, a sample this broad has never been surveyed in the healthcare industry before," said the Head of Healthcare Consulting at OMAC Actuaries and Consultants, Margaret Hulme.

The survey found that medical schemes are struggling to contain the rising costs of healthcare and members believe that their benefits are decreasing.

In fact, the majority of medical schemes have been forced to reduce benefits in order to offset these costs.

Another cause of concern among members was the fact that they felt that they weren't educated enough about their benefits.

"The survey shows that although members in general are satisfied with the level of communication that they receive, only 45% of respondents actually read the material thoroughly," said Hulme.

In addition, although disease management programmes and wellness programmes were in place, they failed to add significant value as schemes failed to use appropriate communication methods to educate their members about disease, and generate interest in wellness programmes.

"Most medical schemes communicate to members via booklets, annual benefit structure information or some form of electronic interface. There is a distinct lack of face to face communication - which has been found the yield the best results," concluded Hulme.