HARARE, Apr. 16 (NewsDay Live) – Medical practitioners have raised alarm over what they describe as discriminatory practices by some medical aid societies after emails surfaced showing healthcare providers being rejected or blocked from joining major insurance panels.
Emails seen by this publication show applicants being told by one insurer it was “currently not accepting new service providers,” while another rejected applications following an internal assessment.
The developments have drawn sharp criticism from Johannes Marisa, president of the Medical and Dental Private Practitioners of Zimbabwe Association, who accused some medical aid societies of unfairly excluding independent practitioners from their payment platforms.
“This behaviour, where medical aid societies segregate against practitioners seeking to join their payment platforms, is unethical and unacceptable. It is barbaric and against the tenets of good practice,” Marisa said.
He warned that restrictive provider panels undermine patients’ rights to access care.
“Every patient has the freedom to seek treatment from a doctor or service provider of their choice. When a medical aid rejects providers like that, it is wrong. It should not be allowed,” he said.
Medical aid provider panels are networks of approved doctors, specialists, pharmacies and hospitals whose services are covered by insurance schemes. Exclusion from these panels can significantly reduce patient volumes for private practitioners, as many Zimbabweans rely on medical aid to cover healthcare costs.
Marisa attributed the problem partly to conflicts of interest, alleging that some medical aid societies operate their own healthcare facilities while also controlling which external providers can treat insured patients.
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“Medical aid societies must stick to their mandate of providing health insurance, not healthcare services. They run their own clinics and then block other doctors from treating patients under their schemes. That is a clear conflict of interest,” he said.
He called for urgent amendments to Statutory Instrument 330 of 2000, which regulates medical aid societies.
“We are calling for a complete and urgent amendment of SI 330 of 2000. The law must prohibit medical aid societies from running healthcare facilities,” Marisa said.
The controversy comes as Zimbabwe’s healthcare system faces mounting pressure from rising treatment costs, staff shortages and growing reliance on private care.
