Spiralling cost of health care in SA in focus again

So what pushed up the costs and medical inflation?
Stoltz blamed the concept of managed care that originated in 1990.
The portion of members’ contributions going to non-health care costs, together with administration costs and broker fees, had increased yearly.
Stoltz argued that while the managed-care system was created to control the costs for the treatment of acute diseases, it had not brought the costs down. Instead, managed care had become more commercialised.
Medical schemes paid R11.56bn in non-health care costs in 2011, which comprised administration and managed care costs as well as broker fees.
Instead of controlling the costs, the system had promoted hospital-based care.
“The benefit design (of medical schemes) forces patients to use hospitals as a point of entry,” said Stoltz.