Johannesburg - Hosmed medical scheme has been placed under provisional curatorship by the High Court in Pretoria, the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) said on Wednesday.
“The court further appointed Siyabonga Jikwana as provisional curator... tasked to ensure that a new board takes over the reins at Hosmed in due course,” said the council in a statement.
Jikwana was appointed to replace Hosmed's principal officer and board of trustees in the court judgment that was made on Tuesday.
The council said members of the scheme needed to be assured that “the claim-paying ability” of the scheme was not affected by the provisional curatorship.
It urged brokers to “act with restraint” and to give advice that had the best interest of their clients at heart.
The CMS said it had initiated the application to the court to address governance concerns at the medical scheme, in its capacity as a regulator of the industry.
Meanwhile, Hosmed issued a statement on Wednesday in which it said that, following the court ruling, it was “embracing the new developments in the business.
“The scheme will continue to fulfil its obligations to its members without any difficulty.”
The company said it acknowledged that “corrective measures” were needed to improve the running of the scheme.
In the statement, Jikwana was quoted as saying that he was pleased with administrative efforts at Hosmed to keep the scheme operational.
“There's been a great improvement on its reserves albeit slightly below the required 25 percent.”
Jikwana said he was “confident” that the company could do a turnaround.
Sapa