Public Urged to Comment on Overreaching Regulations on Tariff Determinations for the Health Sector

Dear Editor

The Democratic Alliance (DA) urges the public to submit their comments and oppositions on the proposed block exemption regulations that will allow for stakeholders to collectively determine tariffs for healthcare services, diagnosis and treatment codes, and quality metrics.

The DA does not believe the proposed regulations will serve its intended purpose to make private sector health prices more affordable.

We believe that the Competition Act cannot be used to in effect establish a health policy framework, which bypasses parliamentary oversight. Health policy and legislation needs to be established through Parliaments legislative structures.

These proposed regulations overreach by attempting to regulate healthcare guidelines and structures outside its scope of merely addressing competition within the private health sector.

Coding structures, the determination of quality measurements/metrics, medicine formularies and treatment protocols/guidelines, the establishment of negotiating structures and allocating responsibilities to existing Departments or regulators, and determining the appointments of a Multi-Lateral Negotiating Forum (MLNF) and decisions on who may be included, should be addressed by Health policy, legislation, and regulations, not the Competition Act.

Not only do these regulations overreach; it completely ignores the complexity of the problem as identified by the Health Market Inquiry Report, and it’s subsequent recommendation of holistic reform. The proposed regulations ignore the deep structural flaws in the current system and might even lead to supplier-induced demands to mitigate the regulations.

While the regulations no doubt comes from a place which has the best interest of private health patients in mind, it will not benefit them. The problems will not be solved in this way. The only way to prevent ever skyrocketing private health care is complete structural reform that will benefit both the private health sector and their patients. These regulations are merely putting a plaster on a septic wound.

Comments on the regulations may be submitted by no later than 31 March 2025 to the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, for the attention of Dr Ivan Galodikwe, email at IGalodikwe@thedtic.gov.za or hand delivered at 3rd Floor, Block E, 77 Meintjies Street, Sunnyside, 0132.

Regards

Michele Clarke MP
DA Spokesperson on Health