Discovery Health's feeble attempt to calm its members!

I am a member and have to respond to the CEO of Discovery:

Adrian Gore, the founder and CEO of Discovery, South Africa’s biggest medical scheme, said in a message to its thousands of members that Discovery unequivocally supports universal healthcare coverage and believes that a workable NHI is central to achieving this. However, in its current form, the NHI Act is not feasible as it rules out private-sector collaboration. Most experts do not think that the NHI is feasible. Government should harness the wealth of knowledge and success in the private health sector. “Collaboration” is a weirdly strange word to use in the circumstances.

Gore says that only once the NHI is “fully implemented” will medical schemes be limited in the cover they provide to medical scheme members. Gore promises that, until this point, there will be no change to Discovery members’ medical scheme cover, and it will take a long time – a decade at least – to achieve “full implementation”, given the scale and complexity of reforms needed.

Gore notes: “Importantly, a workable NHI requires the public sector to be strengthened, not the private sector to be weakened. We need both to be strong and working together effectively.”

Gore ends by saying: “We understand that President Ramaphosa’s signing of the NHI Act has caused anxiety. However, with full implementation a long way out and many matters still to be navigated, I urge you to focus on the facts. “Rest assured that we will do the right thing for you, the healthcare system and for all South Africans.”

Adrian was one of those who should have spoken openly and forcefully much earlier in the process. I suspect he hoped to get the job to manage the NHI administration - he may still see this as an opportunity. Can he be trusted? As he trusted the ANC and the President?

A lot of what he said might be true, but the fact is, it’s not the task an ANC government is geared up for. The point is dismissing these aspects as a future inevitability does enormous harm: it sends out a message that is destructive of the growth and investment we so desperately need. The damage is already being done.

WHAT HE IS SAYING: "DO NOT WORRY! THE PROBLEMS WILL START IN AROUND 10 YEAR'S TIME... " What then? His members cannot go overseas as he and the ANC ministers can for good healthcare - we must worry now! And, the likelihood of it starting earlier as parts of the "services" are incorporated into the NHI is very high.

Big businesses think they speak for their customers... It is patently clear they do not!!!!!!!

I hope the other Discovery Health members are reassured - I am certainly not!!!