Private hospitals have rejected the minister of health’s call for CPIX (consumer inflation less mortgage costs) to be used as a benchmark for their tariff increases.
”CPIX is not an accurate benchmark of healthcare costs,” the Hospital Association of South Africa said in a statement on Friday.
The statement followed a meeting on Thursday between hospital groups and the minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, where she said she was ”recommending” that hikes be capped at CPIX.
The association said that internationally, the measurement of healthcare costs was subject to a medical inflation indicator.
This was in turn based on ”a number of realities that are endemic to the medical sector”.
CPIX was not used internationally as a benchmark.
It said the private hospital sector was willing to continue talking to the minister and her officials in a bid to understand why the department wanted to use CPIX.
Costs ought to be decided by ”fair, reasonable and industry-appropriate methodology”.
CPIX was just over 8% in January.
Tshabalala-Msimang said although some groups were sticking to CPIX, others have announced hikes of as much as 33% for 2008. — Sapa