[Witsmedaidpensioners] Message from the Office of the Senior Director Re: Medical Aid Review

[Melanie Dobbs]

Dear All,

Please find below the message sent to all Wits staff re: the Medical Aid Review.

Apologies that your copy has taken so long: a Pensioner member address list system had to be set up for this office. It is now in operation, and in future messages to all staff will be submitted timeously to you.

Regards,
Melanie Dobbs

Executive Secretary to
Dr Kgomotso Kasonkola
Senior Human Resources Director
Rm No: 9010, 9th Floor
Senate House
University of the Witwatersrand
Tel: 011 717 1402
Fax: 086 553 4703


MEDICAL AID REVIEW

Circular to all staff

We wish to thank all colleagues for the inputs and comments made in respect of the review of the University of the Witwatersrand Staff Medical Aid Fund (UWSMAF). However, it is necessary to state at the outset that there is clearly a misconception regarding the purpose of the review. The exercise was undertaken to identify the concerns of members and to explore options that might satisfy members, while also ensuring the sustainability of the Fund. Such options are to be presented to all stakeholders for consideration and, where appropriate and feasible, for implementation.

Issues raised by respondents are addressed in the following paragraphs:


Governance issues

The WSMAF Board of Trustees will be consulted in the next phases of the review process to provide perspectives on the matter. At the recent Review Committee meeting the importance of consultation with the Employer (represented by VCO, SET and ultimately Council), was also identified from the viewpoint that any findings and recommendations arising from the review process may have implications for the post-retirement liability that the University has towards all staff appointed before 1 January 2006.

Medical aid fund choice

As with most 'in-house' medical aid schemes, membership of the WSMAF is compulsory for staff on a continuous employment contract. Input received from respondents indicates that there are WSMAF members who wish the review process to explore either membership of an open scheme such as Discovery or establishing a low cost option within the WSMAF. It needs to be stated that the latter is legislatively not possible because of the small size of the Fund. Nevertheless, the expressed need for choice will be considered at the end of review process, informed by data, with discussion focused on issues such as reconfiguration of current benefits and/or restructuring of the contribution tables. However before any changes are made, additional input relating to member preferences needs to be solicited.

Proposed methodology

We received a number of objections to data collection by means of small focus groups as  the methodology might limit representation and fuller participation of staff in the process.  In response to these objections the Review Committee agreed to change the method from focus group discussions to distribution of a questionnaire to all segments of membership for completion.  The Committee appreciates that due to the complexity of the issues some staff members may not be confident in completing the questionnaires. Every effort will be made  to ensure that the service provider (DMSA) works closely with HR and the Unions in finding the best approach to collection of data from these colleagues.

Pensioner concerns

A number of pensioner members raised concerns that the previous communiqué did not reach them, and also perceived the exercise as a potential infringement on their rights and a threat to the very existence of the Fund.  Unfortunately we could not reach all pensioner members because of legal protection of their addresses but have since contacted Medscheme for assistance. We are pleased to advise that Medscheme has provided the addresses and we will now forward to pensioner members all information relating to the review process, including the initial report and the aforementioned questionnaire.

Next steps

DMSA has submitted the questionnaire to be used in the next phase of the review process for comments and inputs by the members of the Review Committee. Once the questionnaire has been finalised the process will begin in earnest.  We envisage that a final report on the review exercise will be available by end June 2013, at which point the process of consideration of options by relevant stakeholders will begin.




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