Tag: MEDICAL AID

After Years Stuck at 10%, Zimbabwe’s Medical Aid Coverage Crashes to Just 4%

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Health insurance coverage in Zimbabwe has declined to a historic low, with new data revealing that only four percent of the country’s population is currently covered by any form of medical aid. This comes after more than a decade in which the national coverage rate stagnated at around 10 percent, raising fresh concerns about the accessibility and affordability of healthcare in the country. The figures are drawn from the latest Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS), which paints a stark picture of declining health insurance coverage across…

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Proposed IPEC Bill Could Collapse Zimbabwe ‘s Medical Aid Societies Sector- AHFoZ Warns

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa The Association of Healthcare Funders of Zimbabwe (AHFoZ) has raised alarm over the proposed Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC) Amendment Bill of 2024, warning that the new regulations could destabilize the country’s medical aid system and lead to its eventual collapse. The Bill, which seeks to classify Medical Aid Societies under financial services for regulation by IPEC, has sparked widespread concern among healthcare stakeholders who argue that the move could have far-reaching consequences for both the medical aid sector and the broader healthcare ecosystem. The proposed legislation,…

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Medical Aid Industry Representative Body Optimistic About Zig Currency

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa The Association of Healthcare Funders of Zimbabwe (AHFoZ), the representative body for the medical aid industry in the country, has thrown its weight behind the newly introduced Zimbabwe Gold (Zig). The new endorsement comes in the wake of mixed reactions following the introduction of the currency, with some players in the medical aid industry raising fears around the sustainability and continuity of the Zig currency since it was launched through a Statutory Instrument (Statutory Instrument 60 of 2024), which in most cases has a shorter shelf life.…

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Private Health Insurance (Medical Aid) and Huge Shortfalls in Zimbabwe: Policymakers playing ducks and drakes

Healthtimes

By: Enock Musungwini, MPH, MBA Introduction A shortfall is the difference between what a health service provider charges for a patient’s treatment and what the medical insurance company will pay for that service. Shortfalls are sometimes presented as a co-payment, which is the gap between what the Private Health Insurance (PHI) company or medical aid pays to the health service provider for service rendered to the patient and what the health service provider will have charged the patient, known as a tariff. According to Suriyawongpaisal et al. (2016), huge shortfalls…

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Zimbabweans value funeral cover more than Medical Aid…Only 11 Percent Zimbabweans Have Medical Aid

Michael Gwarisa

The loss in value in the local currency to the greenback, has forced several Zimbabwean medical aid policyholders to terminate medical aid policies while some are resorting to removing some beneficiaries from cover as a survival strategy. By Michael Gwarisa These developments come at the back of revelations that a few Zimbabweans are currently under medical aid cover and yet, more people have up-to-date funeral policy coverage. A study that was conducted by Finmark Trust and published by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) revealed that just 30 percent of…

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First Mutual RTGS Medical Aid holders stranded

Michael Gwarisa

ZIMBABWEAN Dollar Medical Aid holders under First Mutual Health insurance scheme will no longer be able to access healthcare services at any of the health facilities under the Medical Investments limited including the Avenues Clinic, a move that is likely to throw members into quandary. By Michael Gwarisa Sources privy to these developments told this publication that First Mutual Health (FMH) has not been forthcoming in terms of meeting their side of the bargain and have been paying for claims after a longer period in contradiction with a request from…

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COVID-19 Leads To Spike In Respiratory And Spectacles Medical Aid Claims In Zim

Michael Gwarisa

THE Association of Healthcare Funders of Zimbabwe (AHFoZ), which is the umbrella body for all medical aid companies in Zimbabwe says there has been an upsurge in respiratory and Eye related medical aid claims during the COVID-19 period. By Michael Gwarisa Speaking during a virtual meeting recently, AHFoZ Chief Executive Officer, Ms Shylet Sanyanga said, “In terms of the impact of COVID-19, we noticed that since the beginning of the pandemic and since the first case was diagnosed here in Zimbabwe, there has been an increase of respiratory related claims…

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Zim Medical Aid Companies Should Embrace Telehealth Post COVID-19- AHFoZ

Michael Gwarisa

THERE was a general decline in contributions to medical aid companies as well as delays in processing claims during the COVID-19 induced lockdown period amidst indications that most players struggled to process claims as they still rely on obsolete manual systems. By Michael Gwarisa Speaking during a virtual dialogue, Association of Health Care Funders (AHFoZ) Chief Executive Officer Ms Shylet Sanyanga said Medical Aid players have to think outside the box and prepare for future emergencies and also ensure they continue offering services even in the presence of global a…

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#OPNION: Government Moves To Regulate Medical Aid Societies: This Doesn’t Sound Like A Very Brilliant Idea

Michael Gwarisa

GOVERNMENT recently announced that cabinet had deliberated and considered the submissions made on the Regulation of Medical Aid Space Societies as proposed in the Insurance and Pensions Commission Bill, which were presented by Vice President as Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr Constantino Chiwenga. By Michael Gwarisa According to information minister, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa, they had realised that since medical aid societies were not for profit enterprises and represent members’ efforts to pool funds to assist in covering health bills and expenses, it was best international practice for such…

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77% of medical-aid babies are now born via c-section in SA

Healthtimes

ALMOST 77% of babies covered by South African medical schemes are delivered by caesarean section – among the highest rates in the world, a new study by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) has found. According to the World Health Organisation, c-sections should only represent 10% to 15% of births. In South African state hospitals, the c-section was only around 26% in 2016. Read: The C-section rate among Discovery members is now up to three times higher than at American celebrity hospitals – here’s why The CMS now wants urgent…

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