The Gauteng Department of Health informs the public of the new uniform patient fees schedule and tariffs that came into effect on May 1.
The revised tariffs follow the public consultation process during March whereby interested persons and stakeholders were given until March 29 to submit written comments and representations on the gazetted draft regulations relating to uniform patient fees payable for public hospitals, emergency medical services, mortuaries and differentiated amenities (Folateng Wards).
The tariffs have gone up by 4.9%.
The revised fees will apply to all categories of patients, medical schemes, Road Accident Fund, Workman’s Compensation, intergovernmental organisations such as the SAPS, non-subsidised categories of foreign nationals treated at State Health Facilities and differentiated amenities and all subsidised patients within the following categories except for those categories that are exempted or qualify for free services:
• H1 – individuals with an income of less than R70 000 per annum and households with an income less than R100 000 per annum.
• H2 – Individuals with an income less than R250 000 per annum and households with an income less than R350 000 per annum.
• H3 – Individuals with an income greater than or equal to R250 000 per annum and households with an income greater than or equal to R350 000 per annum.
In terms of the revised fees, an individual under H1 category who calls an ambulance requiring advanced life support will be charged R160, which is R5 more than what they are currently paying.
The same H1 category patient who accesses services at a provincial hospital and consults a specialist practitioner will be charged R95 per visit compared to R90 currently.
The Uniform Patient Fee Schedule billing system ensures a simplified charging mechanism for public hospitals, hospital mortuaries and ambulance services, and it provides a transparent and consistent fee structure for the treatment of patients, both as in-patients and out-patients. This adjustment takes into account the cost-of-living adjustments and the inflation rate.
The annual review of the patient fees is implemented in line with the requirements of Treasury Regulations 7.3.1 and the Public Finance Management Act No.1 of 1999.
These regulations mandate the accounting officer of an institution to review all fees, charges, rates, scales, or tariffs that are not fixed by law and relate to revenue accruing to a revenue fund.A comprehensive schedule of charges can be downloaded on the link https://surl.li/tmnfa
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