Govt seized with PSMAS problems
THE GOVERNMENT is committed to addressing the rot at Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) and its subsidiaries as a way of ensuring they deliver in accordance with their mandate.
This follows the short-changing of clients by PSMAS despite customers, mostly civil servants, being up to date with their remittances, and in some cases having their medical aid being rejected by several healthcare service providers.
The situation was exacerbated recently with complaints that PSMAS and its subsidiaries were defaulting on their obligations to workers like timeous payment of salaries, reneging on paying some allowances, while being accused of channelling the bulk of their resources to management welfare.
This led to the downing of tools by workers at Premier Service Medical Investments (PSMI) which disrupted service delivery.
Reports also say the company is mulling diversification into other areas such as mining and insurance, a flagrant disregard of the entity’s founding objectives, and has also introduced co-payments.
The co-payments require clients to pay more money when they need a service despite being up to date with their monthly payments.
The Government, the major stakeholder in PSMAS, contributing around 90 percent of the company’s revenue through remittances of its employees in the public service said the situation at PSMAS has to end.
“The funds that are contributed by Government and those that are contributed by Government workers should go to support the activities for which the mutual society was formed for by Government employees and that is access to healthcare,” said Public Service Commission Secretary, Ambassador Jonathan Wutawunashe, said.
Public Service Commission Secretary, Ambassador Jonathan Wutawunashe “This means the acceptance of the PSMAS card whenever it is presented by PSMAS members, that is the comprehensive coverage of healthcare costs, to the extent that it was meant to be comprehensive.”
He blasted the need to request co-payment from workers, imploring the company to ensure that service providers accepting the PSMAS card should get their remittances as well.
Ambassador Wutawunashe said the money that comes from Government should be used in accordance with the founding principles of the organisation.
“Employees at PSMI should be in a position to provide the service they should. Any development that diverts the focus from the primary role that PSMAS is supposed to play in support of its members has to be corrected.”
Ambassador Wutawunashe said all the advocacy in the company should be on behalf of the workers and the institution in so far as it is playing its primary role of providing access to healthcare.
“Government is committed to continue to contribute to the strengthening of the institution of PSMAS and its affiliates in the provision of healthcare and in the reinstatement of the card that appears to have lost its lustre, that is not being accepted the way it has to.”
Ambassador Wutawunashe said Government was ready and willing to support PSMAS if the company returned to its founding principles.
Allegations are that senior management and board members were willing to diversify as a way of creating financial flows that will help with the management of the company.-The Herald
