Image:Twitter@PernetFHS
Momentum adds 100 000 low-cost Health4Me members to Covid-19 vaccination list
Momentum said the Health4Me vaccinations will be funded through its insurance business, since members do not fall under the scheme as per regulations.
Image:Twitter@PernetFHS
Medical insurer Momentum says it will cover the Covid-19 vaccination cost for 100 000 members of its low-cost health insurance product in addition to the more than two million medical aid members it administers, Fin24 reports.
South Africa is expecting its first 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to land on Monday, with the government preparing to roll out the largest vaccination programme in the country’s history.
The country has been the hardest-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic on the continent, with more than 1.4 million cases and over 43 000 deaths to date.
South Africa’s medical aid schemes have proposed subsidising people who rely on public healthcare and don’t have medical aid.
However, Reuters reported Friday that most medical schemes have still not agreed how and to what extent they will contribute to the cost of inoculations for people without medical insurance cover.
Herd immunity
This leaves most of the country’s 59 million population to the government to vaccinate, which may hamper its plans to achieve herd immunity by vaccinating 67%.
The government plans to vaccinate 40 million people by the end of this year, by providing the jab to 31 000 people a day, at an estimated cost of R20 billion.
The medical aid schemes have said the vaccinations could be funded through a single exit price (SEP) mechanism, which would enable them to pay the government for each dose, with the remaining funds being used for public sector patients.
The SEP has a schedule of fees that list the maximum price that medicine can be charged at and could comprise the cost of the vaccine, storage, and distribution.
Health4Me
On Friday, Fin 24 reported that the head of marketing and sales at Momentum Health Damian McHugh said the company would provide the vaccine to its 100 000 members of the Health4Me affordable healthcare product aimed at employed but uninsured people.
“We need to be able to look broader than just the medical scheme market, there are other people who are covered through insurance solutions and we need to be able to cover them and we feel that this is going to be a benefit that expands our level of cover to a few more people without creating a burden on the state or employer groups.”
He explained that the Health4Me vaccinations will be funded by Momentum’s insurance business, since members do not fall under the scheme as per regulations.
“We just feel that as a responsible South African healthcare provider, our solutions need to be able to cover for the pandemic. So, we are going to be adding cover to this solution’s day-to-day component, so that all members who are part of this insurance pool within the Momentum stable will have access to the vaccine.”
But Health4Me won’t subsidise people using state facilities, according to Fin24.
McHugh said although corporates will also have access to vaccines through Health4Me, they would not be able to “jump” the vaccination queue and healthcare workers will take priority for the first round of jabs, followed by high-risk members and the rest of its members.
