Health ministry denies raising public healthcare tariffs to match private healthcare rates

Staff Reporter THE Ministry of Health and Social Services has dismissed claims that it has increased public healthcare tariffs by aligning them with those of the Namibia Association of Medical Aid Funds (NAMAF), stressing that it does not have the authority to determine or amend Public Service Employees Medical Aid Scheme (PSEMAS) tariffs. “At the outset, it is important to clarify that the Ministry of Health and Social Services does not have the authority to determine or change tariffs for the Public Service Employees Medical Aid Scheme (PSEMAS). The authority to determine and approve PSEMAS tariffs falls strictly under the mandate of the Ministry of Finance,” the Ministry of Health’s Executive Director, Penda Ithindi, explained.

Ithindi noted that these tariffs have not been comprehensively reviewed for the past 11 years, despite significant changes in healthcare costs, service complexity and billing systems. He added that the Ministry of Health implements regulations relating to the classification of state hospitals, the admission of patients to state hospitals, and the fees payable by patients at state hospitals, in accordance with the Hospitals and Health Facilities Act (Act No. 36 of 1994). “The current tariff structure applied by the Ministry of Health and Social Services for services rendered to PSEMAS members and other medical aid beneficiaries has not been fully aligned with the tariff and coding frameworks used by PSEMAS, NAMAF and private healthcare providers,”