WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2005-02-04 Posted By: Jan
From the News Archives of: WWW.AfricanCrisis.Org
Date & Time Posted: 2/4/2005 4:59:22 AM
S.Africa: Doctor"s bills set to soar
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From the News Archives of: WWW.AfricanCrisis.Org
Date & Time Posted: 2/4/2005 4:59:22 AM
S.Africa: Doctor"s bills set to soar
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You are going to have to pay more when next you consult a doctor. This is because doctors have to pay more in medical insurance to cover themselves. And that is because more patients are taking doctors to court. The Medical Protection Society (MPS) – a medical insurance fund with a membership of 23 000 doctors and other medical practitioners – said Those involved in complex procedures with greater risks have the highest premiums and therefore the highest fees. Insurance for obstetricians and gynaecologists went up from R46 000 to R66 000 a year or an increase of 43 percent with general practitioners one of the lowest, from R5 300 to R6 000 or 13 percent. A Pretoria General Practitioner (GP), who charged R110 per consultation in January now bills patients R140 per visit while one working in Johannesburg upped his consultation from R120 to R160. A city gynaecologist and obstetrician confirmed increasing his fees from R180 to R220 because of higher medical insurance costs. “Increases in insurance costs need to be recovered … adjusting consultation fees accordingly is the logical solution,” he said. The South African Medical Journal (SAMJ) said obstetricians were 12 times more likely to be sued than GPs, resulting in the MPS premium differential amendment. Increases in practitioner’s fees would filter down to medical aid schemes, said spokesperson for the Registrar of Medical Aids Pat Sidley. “You can be fairly certain increased indemnity cover premiums for doctors will be deflected on to the consumer,” she said. “We might see adjustments in instances of co-payments, where the patient will have to contribute more than at present. However, medical aid schemes will certainly account for increased consultation fees when members’ contributions are reviewed later this year,” she warned. MPS’s international marketing manager Dr Tim Hegan, quoted in the South African Medical Journal, said litigation costs had gone up 600 percent since 2000. He said that in the past few years lawyers were getting “better and shifting their focus to doctors”. Dr Kgosi Letlape, chairperson of the South African Medical Association (Sama), said consultation fee increases came as no surprise. “There is no limit on what a practitioner may charge and when faced with an increased cost – in this instance indemnity cover premiums – they adjust their fees to counter the additional expense,” he said. He said the association did not set consultation fees and the Competitions Board had dismissed suggestions of fee ceiling levels. “The impact of this decision will affect consumer’s health care costs,” he said. This article was originally published on page 1 of Pretoria News on February 04, 2005 Source: Independent Online (IOL) |
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