BHF ‘upset but undeterred’ by Appeal Court ruling

Abstract

Until the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) comes up with acceptable tariff guidelines or the courts definitively rule on the validity of regulations governing prescribed minimum benefits (PMBs), internecine warfare in the healthcare industry is set to continue.
That is the effect of last month’s dismissal by the Supreme Court of Appeals (SCA) of an application by the Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) to have declared invalid a year-old finding by the High Court in Pretoria. In November last year, Judge Cynthia Pretorius found that the BHF had no locus standi1 to ask for a ruling on the correct interpretation of Regulation 8 of the Medical Schemes Act.