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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Senior Reporter

The Government will, within the next week, provide financial assistance to address funding gaps that are hampering the smooth flow of operations at Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) and ensure that civil servants access health care without any hindrances.

The interventions by Government are part of the short, medium and long term solutions that will be instituted on the back of ongoing engagements between the Government, PSMAS and its subsidiaries and service providers.

Major challenges that have hit the health insurance company include non-payment of service providers, including its own subsidiary Premier Service Medical Investment (PSMI), which is the arm that provides medical care through its hospitals, clinics and pharmacies.

PSMI has in turn been failing to meet its obligations to workers like timeous payment of salaries, and allowances, among many other grievances.

As a result of the challenges, PSMAS clients, the majority of whom are civil servants, have been short-changed in some cases where their medical aid cards are being rejected by several service providers.

Secretary to the Public Service Commission, Ambassador Jonathan Wutawunashe, yesterday said Government’s priority was to ensure that their workers were not affected by the ongoing situation at PSMAS.

“Government, in its effort to ensure support to civil servants with regard to their access to health care, has been discussing with PSMAS and PSMI to find a way in which the two entities can be supported to address any deficiencies or shortcomings in their cash flows, particularly as regards their ability to pay service providers including PSMI,” he said.

“Where funding gaps exist, Government wants to address those and wants to do so in the short term; we are talking about within a week or so.”

Government is the major stakeholder in PSMAS, contributing around 90 percent to the company’s revenue through remittances of its employees in the public service.

He said it was important to ensure that civil servants continue enjoying the non-monetary benefit of medical insurance.

“This is a non-monetary benefit that the Government has pledged to its workers,” said Ambassador Wutawunashe.

“It is an important one because it affects not only the welfare of Government employees, but also of their families and dependants.

“It is for that reason that the Government has prioritised that particular non-monetary benefit to ensure that access to health care, which it helps to fund principally, is not derailed in any manner.”

Ambassador Wutawunashe said Government will also make the procurement of drugs easier for PSMI to address shortage of essential medicines and supplies.

“Government is pursuing its pledge to strengthen PSMAS and PSMI for the purpose of supporting the Government employees who have elected to be members of PSMAS,” he said.

“Government is taking immediate, medium term and long term steps and the intended outcome is to also support the service providers, including PSMI so that we don’t have a situation where service providers shrink from assisting civil servants because they have not been paid what was due.

“There may be other processes that will be engaged so that the service providers are assured of the goodwill of PSMAS supported by the goodwill of the Government.”