Medical Chronicle November/December 2013 | Page 13

NEWS
Outcry over proposed fee process
SAMA says the HPCSA’s decision
to propose a new process for the
determination of what it now calls a
‘fee norm’ is ‘disappointing and totally
unacceptable’. The move has left
healthcare providers in the dark for the
eighth consecutive year, on what can
be deemed as a fair and reasonable
benchmark fee, again allowing medical
schemes to set so called ‘scheme
rates’ without consideration of the
real and increasing costs of rendering
healthcare services.
SAMA chairperson, Dr Mzukisi
Grootboom, described the move and
the timing of the announcement as a
political ploy to ensure that doctors’
fees for 2014 are again based on the
2006 RPL rates with only an inflator
attached.
“We did our submissions as
requested. A year down the line, they
are telling us that we have to provide
them with new submissions that
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