Healthcare in South Africa: Hospitals and Health Insurance
Healthcare in South Africa
With a population of just under 54.5 million in 2015, South Africa ranks 25th in the world by population and 26th by total area. The official languages of South Africa are Afrikaans, English, Xhosa, Zulu, and Southern Sotho. The currency is the South African rand.
South Africa ranks 175th in world health ranking per WHO. In 2014, the total expenditure on health per person was $1,148, which is 8.8% of the GDP. South African males have a life expectancy at birth of 59 years, and females can expect to live 66 years. There are 0.78 physicians per 1,000 people in South Africa as compared with 2.56 physicians per 1,000 people in the United States.
Hospitals in South Africa
South Africa has about 400 public hospitals (4,200 total public health facilities). Provincial health departments manage the larger regional hospitals, while smaller hospitals and primary care facilities are managed at the district level, and the national Department of Health manages the 10 major teaching hospitals. Many of the state hospitals are struggling, with infrastructure run-down and dysfunctional.
About 200 private hospitals provide a much higher quality of service to about 20% of the population.
Hundreds of Non-Government Organizations contribute to fighting disease and developing public health systems at the national, provincial, local, and community levels.
Health Insurance in South Africa
Patients in the public sector are billed according to a Uniform Patient Fee Schedule (UPFS), which groups patients into 3 paying categories (or in special cases, services are free):
Full Paying Patients – those who are being treated by a private physician, who are externally funded, or who are non-South African citizens.
Fully Subsidized Patients – those referred to a hospital by a primary healthcare service.
Partially Subsidized Patients – those whose costs are covered based on their income.
South Africa’s Department of Health is working to implement a National Health Insurance, in which there would be a single National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) funded through general taxes and some sort of health insurance contribution. The National Treasury currently funds the majority of the public healthcare, which covers about 84% of the population
About 20% of the population have private health insurance that offers everything from full medical coverage to basic hospital and emergency plans.
Travel (International) Health Insurance in South Africa
Travel, or international, health insurance provides comprehensive medical coverage when traveling outside of one’s home country. Travel health insurance is different from travel insurance, as the latter may provide only emergency coverage but not full medical coverage.
Travelers should check with their health insurance provider, as they may already have an option of international health coverage. If they do not, they can purchase travel health insurance from their home country or the destination country.
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