The Ministry of Health and Social Services urges the 83 048 beneficiaries covered under the Namibia Health Plan (NHP) medical aid to access dental care at public health facilities.
The statement comes after dentists affiliated with the Namibia Dental Association (NDA) last week halted services to patients covered by NHP, citing delays in the payment of claims.
Ministry spokesperson Walters Kamaya says NHP members are welcome to seek treatment at government hospitals and clinics, emphasising that no patient would be turned away.
“The government will never refuse to take anyone. Please just come to any public facility; you will be treated,” Kamaya told The Namibian yesterday.
NDA’s move to stop treating NHP patients has left many members uncertain about where to obtain dental care, prompting the ministry to step in with assurances of continued access within the public healthcare system.
Meanwhile, the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) has confirmed that it is urgently assessing the situation following concerns raised.
“Namfisa acknowledges the uncertainty this matter may create for affected stakeholders and wishes to provide assurance that it is receiving urgent and focused attention at the appropriate regulatory level. An update on the regulatory position will be communicated by close of business on Thursday,” Namfisa spokesperson Victoria Raimond says.
NHP spokesperson Tunohole Mungoba yesterday attributed NHP service disruptions to a major operational transition undertaken at the beginning of April.
She said on 1 April, NHP, together with Universal Care, began implementing a transition to deliver value-based managed care services for its members.
According to Mungoba, the transition caused temporary challenges, including delays in claims processing, late payments to healthcare providers, difficulties in issuing pre-authorisations and instability in telephone lines.
In some cases, members were required to pay cash for services.
The scheme says affected claims are now being prioritised for reimbursement, while healthcare providers are being engaged directly to resolve outstanding reconciliations and ensure accurate processing of valid claims.
Mungoba said the transition is aimed at strengthening healthcare delivery in the long term.
“We sincerely apologise for the uncertainty and inconvenience experienced by members and providers, particularly following recent media coverage and concerns raised on social media. We want to assure all stakeholders that these issues are being urgently attended to,” the scheme says.
NHP commits to clearing its claims backlog by 7 May, with weekly payments being processed to meet the deadline.
Last week the Namibian Society of Psychotherapy (NSP) also expressed concerns regarding NHP’s breakdown in claims processing and provider reimbursement.
Both NSP and NDA cite alleged incompetence and lack of planning by Universal Care, which has taken over as administrator from Medscheme since the beginning of April.
The letter also calls on Namibia’s regulatory and industry bodies, including Namfisa and the Namibian Association of Medical Aid Funds (Namaf) to intervene.
Namaf spokesperson Uatavi Mbai says she will respond today to the questions sent to her on Tuesday.
According to NHP’s website, the medical aid scheme has 40 468 principal members and 83 048 beneficiaries.
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