I often write about medical issues, and with good reason.
I believe it’s a very important part of our growth as a nation.
Previously I have said all insurances are pyramid schemes, especially medical aids. In fact, I have gone as far as calling them legalised scams; exploiting us because of our fears.
They tell us how small the contributions are and how quickly they pay out, but the fact is, they exist for the same reason that all companies exist - to pay staff, make a profit and enrich the bosses.
And to do that, insurances can’t pay out every claim all the time. And that’s why medical aids have limits.
I call them pyramid schemes because the two share one key element; if every member had to make a claim at the same time, there wouldn’t be enough money in the kitty causing the scheme to collapse.
Recently someone far more important than me went even further, by calling it “a crime against humanity”.
The president of the SA Health Professions Council, Dr Kgosi Letlape, made this bold statement in front of medical professionals at the University of KwaZulu-Natal two weeks ago.
History
The good doctor didn’t mince his words, saying: “South Africans had better healthcare under the apartheid regime.”
He reminded me that there was a time in our history when you could get a heart transplant for free, medical aids did not exist and all doctors got paid a monthly salary.
That’s until 50 years ago, when government passed the Medical Schemes Act and all the new private hospitals sprung up, offering doctors huge incentives to jump ship.
The result is that half our country’s doctors now serve just 18 percent of the population. And it’s this fact that he says is an “atrocity”.
When I aired my views on this page a few months ago, I got a few angry letters from some readers, who didn’t like what I had to say. I imagine those same people will now be directing their anger towards the esteemed Dr Letlape.
The truth is, nothing shows capitalism up as much as this issue, which allows people to suffer and even die unnecessarily, because they don’t have enough money.
I have heard stories of patients being turned away from hospitals, because they have the wrong or no medical aid.
Can you imagine being a doctor having to first check if a bleeding person’s medical aid premiums are up to date, before continuing to save their lives?
Conscientious doctors must wonder whether they took the Hippocratic Oath, or a hypocritical oath?
It’s a system that looks after your health with the best possible medicine, machines and mind-bending surgery - which is about to see the world’s first head transplant attempt - as long as you can pay.
Over the last two weeks alone, a Capetonian teenager received a new pair of prosthetic ears, while the Mother City is leading in new forms of cancer treatment and restoring burn wounds with advanced laser therapy. Unbelievable stuff, if you can afford it!
The world’s leading economies are realising the very thing Dr Letlape is talking about.
America was looking at universal healthcare for all, until Donald Trump took over. No way that a businessman is going to cause the demise of the very lucrative business of healthcare, I suppose.
Our government is also toying with the idea in the form of National Health Insurance, which is currently being discussed and debated.
In essence, it will mean each South African will get access to top-class medical treatment at no or very little cost.
The plan is to put all of us on the same footing when it comes to medical treatment.
In other words, the kind of treatment you get in a private hospital, minus the cost.
It’s a bit more involved than that, but that’s the basic idea.
And of all the things human beings need to be made to feel equal about, medical treatment is probably top of the list, don’t you think?