Health Medicine Medical

Brokers have been active in the medical aid industry certainly since the Medical Schemes Act was implemented in its original form in 1967 and probably for some time before that. The broking movement was unwelcomed by the Regulator for most of this period but was nevertheless used to a fair extent by many administration houses and schemes to acquire additional member growth, sometimes with a decided absence of good planning.

The provisions of the Act in that period gave enormous license to schemes to exclude members from benefit or refuse membership altogether or even load member premiums if they claimed too heavily. Many changes have been implemented in the new Act and this includes legislating for brokers and the level of conduct expected from them.

The Act, although simplified in certain respects involves many complicating factors covering issues such as waiting periods, premium loading, prescribed minimum benefits and how these affect member choices, the likelihood of compulsory membership in the near future, administration of schemes including the interpretation of relevant legal provisions and so on. Now more than ever there is a crying need for brokers and the professional service they provide which includes the role of middle-man in times of dispute. Their knowledge of the industry and often the critical mass of their client base gives them the edge over the individual family membership or even the large corporation.

The type of person playing the role of broker is changing in line with the requirements of this day and age in the industry. Their knowledge has to simply be broad based; no longer can the broker be merely a life insurance person selling this specialised commodity as a sideline. The broker has to be registered under FAIS, the Act which regulates the giving of financial advice. The broker has to be a healthcare professional.

Remember that your broker should see matters with a bird’s eye view of the industry and not with what is often the prejudiced personal perspective of the representative of a particular medical scheme or administration house.

This article was supplied by Intasure, a company that specialises in the comparison of medical aids in South Africa

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 at 2:49 am and is filed under General, Health, Medical, Medicine, News.