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Health Department Requests Private Health Cost Info
BuaNews (Tshwane)
2008-02-08

Private health care providers are to provide information relating to the pricing of their services and business practices to the Department of Health.

This information will be used to determine the Reference Price List for 2009 which the department uses as a guide to set tariffs for health service providers and medical aid schemes. The department has put this measure in place to address the challenges of escalating costs in the private health sector. Next week, the department will hold a briefing session for all health providers, health agencies and healthcare establishments at the Department of Health Building in Pretoria. It will be held on 21 February at 10am.

The invitation was published in the Government Gazette on Tuesday and includes representative organisations and service providers in the private health sector. The information that needs to be submitted includes the businesses income and expenditure, utilisation or occupancy rates, billing guidelines, overhead and labour costs, professional fees and the cost of consumables used in the delivery of their health services. Other expenses can include catering, the cost of maintenance of premises security and insurance costs and the scales of benefits payable by medical schemes to the health establishment. It is important that stakeholders provide accurate information when conducting these costing studies.

The submitted information will be evaluated and audited for verification purposes, said the department in a statement. The information should be submitted to the department before 18 April 2008.

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