South African Dentists Slam New Tariffs
The South African Dental Association (SADA) has slammed the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) after it revealed new health tariffs.
Spokeswoman for SADA, Maretha Smit, said that HPCSA’s announcement last week had shocked everyone and made it clear that consultations organised between SADA and HPCSA earlier in the year were purely for ‘ticking the box’, rather than consulting with dentists.
Smit said that it was “upsetting” that none of the dental association’s guidelines had been taken into consideration by the HPCSA.
The Consumer Price Index was used to calculate new national health prices based upon the rate of inflation. However, in 2007, the courts last declared the 2006 price invalid and the 2012 list is the first list to be published since.
The 2012 tariffs are around 30-40 percent lower than the published HPCSA fees for 2006 and with costs increasing for dentists over the last 6 years, dentists are wondering how they are going to make a living.
SADA revealed that outgoings for dentists and dental practices had increased significantly since 2006 and said that the tariffs were unrealistic.
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