Civil servants are paying more for their chronic medication dispensing fees than the maximum amount mandated by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, according to a report on Monday.
Some members of the Government Employees Medical Scheme (Gems) who needed medication priced lower than R40 were sometimes even paying double the amount, the Star newspaper reported.
This was because Gems had awarded the contract to Medipost — a courier pharmacy — which was the scheme’s sole medicine supplier.
Should patients opt not to use Medipost — which had negotiated a flat fee of R23.78 — then they stood to be penalised with a 30% co-payment for using another pharmacy.
The Star said it was in possession of a member’s invoice which showed that the person paid R40.36 (including the professional fee) for a medicine worth R16.58.
At a pharmacy, the same drug would cost R30.20, including the maximum dispensing fee of R13.62.
When contacted for comment by the daily newspaper, both Medipost and Gems said they were not breaking the law and that the negotiated fee was inexpensive and cost-effective for the scheme and its members. — Sapa