An estimated 15% of South Africa’s healthcare spending is being lost to fraud, waste and abuse, costing the sector about R30bn annually, while millions of South Africans are increasingly unable to afford medical scheme cover, delegates heard at the Board of Healthcare Funders’ (BHF) annual conference in Cape Town on Monday.
Speaking at the conference, acting SIU head Leonard Lekgetho said fraud and corruption continue to undermine both the public and private healthcare sectors, increasing costs for patients and medical scheme members while diverting resources away from healthcare services.
Lekgetho, who also chairs the Health Sector Anti-Corruption Forum (HSACF), said an estimated 15% of healthcare expenditure is lost to fraud, waste and abuse.
He said common abuses included procurement irregularities, counterfeit medicines, price-fixing, duplicate claims, overservicing and fraudulent billing.
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