The divorce between Melomed Private Hospitals and the South African Municipal Workers Union Medical Scheme (SAMWUMED) has taken a new turn as union heads are looking to get involved.
In December, Melomed and its specialists were informed that they had been excluded as service providers for SAMWUMED, with immediate effect.
Patients are suffering
IOL understands there are at least 60 cancer patients who have treatment plans scheduled at Melomed Hospitals for the new year who will now be unable to continue their treatments.
Specialists speaking to IOL on condition of anonymity said in some cases, there are Stage 4 cancer patients whose diseases are being kept under control, but without treatment, the specialists are concerned the patients' lives will be at stake.
"These are really lovely people. I always put my patients first. Some of them have been in my care for years, and now I will have to turn them away. Where can they turn to?" one specialist told IOL.
Melomed Hospitals have provided care to SAMWUMED members for over 20 years and according to Shameema Adams, the Group Marketing Manager of Melomed this decision took “everyone by surprise”.
SA Municipal Workers' Union's (SAMU) general-secretary, Dumisane Magagula has said that his union planned to engage with SAMWUMED and try to understand the decision further, according to News24.
"We will be in touch with our structures and SAMWUMED'S principal officer. We have an arrangement that where there is one provider in the area, they should be accredited,” he said.
"Members can't be travelling long distances to access healthcare outside of their areas.”
Magagula explained that union members opted for medical insurance due to the unaffordability of private healthcare costs, and the added expense of transportation would disproportionately affect medical aid subscribers.
What was the reason?
SAMWUMED confirmed to IOL that it was changing its hospital network in 2025 following the formal termination of its agreement with the National Hospital Network (NHN), which includes the Melomed Group.
SAMWUMED said its agreement with the NHN, which commenced in January 2021, had expired.
Francina Mosoeu, SAMWUMED's Principal Officer said the union could not reach a mutual agreement with the NHN and as a result reached out to the Melomed Group to allow their facilities most frequented by members as "filler hospitals" in the union's network but again could not reach an agreement.
"It should be made clear that neither the NHN Group nor the Melomed Group were prepared to come to a mutual agreement with SAMWUMED and that SAMWUMED exhausted all avenues to come to a mutual agreement with Melomed and NHN," she said.
The union said that a new hospital network has been put in place and took effect from January 2025.
"The scheme is initiating a communication drive to inform our members of the transition to the new arrangement to avoid copayments in 2025."
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