Web tool to help pick right medical scheme
Phango has 26 members, including patient advocacy groups such as those battling cancer, arthritis and depression.
There are 41 “open” medical schemes registered with the Council for Medical Schemes, which accept anyone who can afford the monthly premiums.
As the council’s registrar, Patrick Masobe, noted in the organisation’s most recent annual report, consumers have difficulty comparing the benefit packages offered by these schemes as they are not standardised.
“The information that is out there is often confusing and complicated. Our aim is to demystify it for consumers,” Phango chairwoman Vicki Pinkney Atkinson said yesterday.
She said patients often struggled to get the medical benefits they needed, partly because it was so difficult to shop around between schemes.
“We spend an inordinate amount of time trying to ensure they get the right cover,” she said.
Phango hoped its Medical Scheme Information Tool (MSIT) would help consumers make informed choices. The tool included information on 16 open medical schemes, including SA’s biggest scheme, Discovery Health.
Start-up costs for the project have been provided by Innovative Medicines SA (IMSA), which represents multinational pharmaceutical companies.
“It’s apparent that there is a lot of confusion out there,” said IMSA director Val Beaumont. “The MSIT is an amazing starting point to empower patients.”
The initiative was given a cautious welcome by the Council for Medical Schemes, the statutory body charged with regulating the industry.
“There is certainly a need for the kind of information tool Phango is developing, and we will be watching the initiative with interest,” said the council’s senior strategy specialist, Stephen Harrison.
He said the council was developing policies to promote standardisation between medical schemes, and was considering changes to the regulations governing brokers so as to promote independence in the advice given to consumers.
Obtaining independent advice on medical scheme cover was difficult as many intermediaries were paid commissions for the products they sold, he said.
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