Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
ACCESS MEDICAL AID CONSULTANTS (PTY) LTD
INVESTIGATION BY THE COMMITTEE
STATEMENT BY PROF LOUISE TAGER, CHAIRMAN OF THE BUSINESS PRACTICES COMMITTEE.
The report of the Committee to Mr Trevor Manuel, Minister of Trade and Industry, on its investigation into the business practices of Access medical Aid Consultants (Pty) Ltd (Amac) was published in the Government Gazette on 20 October 1995.
Investigations by the Committee are conducted in terms of section B(1)(a) of the Harmful Business Practices Act, 1988 (Act No 71 of 1988). Complaints that Amac had paid certain medical accounts five months after they had been submitted for payment and that other accounts had not been paid at all were investigated.
The Committee found that Amac was trading while it was technically insolvent. The non-payment or late payment of medical bills had the effect of unreasonably prejudicing Amac's members. The assets of Amac were totally inadequate to protect the interests of its members. The Medical Schemes Act, 1967 (Act No 72 of 1967) requests a guarantee of at least R1 million before a medical scheme can be registered.
Amac debited the bank accounts of its members to cover "costs" that had according to the management, been absorbed by Amac. Members could not have known the extent of their contribution towards Amac's "costs" and since they were unable to budget for this expense, many members were prejudiced by this practice.
Amac's management stopped payment of batches of cheques at random. Members who submitted legitimate claims were prejudiced when the payment of their claims were also stopped. The stop payment which was probably done because its overdraft facilities were exhausted, indicated that the administration system was in tatters. Some of Amac's cheques were also returned marked "refer to drawer". Information obtained by the Committee pointed to the fact that Mr da Silva (the general manager of Amac) has made irregular drawings out of Amac's account. Amac had left many dissatisfied and disillusioned members.
The Committee was of the opinion that there were no grounds to justify the practices in the public interest. It was recommended that the Minister declare unlawful the harmful business practice carried on by Access Medical Aid Consultants (Pty) Ltd, O J da Silva, M F Bessa or any employee, agent or representative of Access Medical Aid Consultants (Pty) Ltd who is involved in the management or administration or receives consideration for or in connection with a medical scheme as defined in section 1 of the Medical Schemes Act, No 72 of 1967. The Minister accepted the Committee's recommendations and prohibited the mentioned parties from conducting the harmful business practice described in the Report.
Enquiries: Ms Lana van Zyl Tel (012) 310 9562 Fax (012) 320 1417
Issued by the Directorate of Communications of the Department of Trade and Industry on behalf of the Business Practices Committee. Pretoria 30 October 1995