Private healthcare becoming unaffordable, with cost of medication rising by 80%

Private healthcare is becoming unaffordable and, with government provided medical facilities less than adequate, the pressure on consumers to afford any kind of healthcare is becoming immense.

According to Mike van Wyk, chief executive of Medicare24, the cost of medication has risen by 80% in some instances. He said that supply chain challenges, along with post-Covid scarcity and the Russian war in Ukraine are all contributing factors to the spike.

Van Wyk said consumers were now shopping around for what they can afford, whether it’s decisions about service providers or limiting the purchase of medication. But variables like load shedding has also placed immense pressure on healthcare providers.

Van Wyk said that it was impossible to pass on costs incurred due to Eskom’s blackouts to consumers, as it would simply become unaffordable to see a doctor.

A single Medicare24 clinic has seen its fuel bill rocket by R30 000 last month. And as the cost of healthcare escalates so, too, does the reliance on what Van Wyk calls, Dr Google.

He said: “This is not the right doctor to go and see. To self-medicate is wrong because how do you know what’s actually wrong with yourself?”

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State facilities, Van Wyk said, cannot be anyone’s first choice for treatment. Previously, The Citizen reported on shocking conditions at Edenvale Hospital and Tambo Memorial on the East Rand. There have been other media reports warning of the deteriorating state of public health.

At the time, the Gauteng department of health committed to resolving issues at both hospitals visited by The Citizen. A return visit to Edenvale Hospital showed a few cosmetic repairs had been done.

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said state healthcare was in the same shape as Eskom.

“I don’t even have to draw the comparison. Anyone can just go and see the disintegration and mismanagement for themselves.”

Mashaba added that while government claimed a shortage of medical staff, he was aware of several unemployed doctors and nurses.