‘Afya’ service is in ruins
a friend and a former government official says the idea of afya free medical insurance provided for retirees is not new but dates back to years and was thought of because of the sufferings of pensioners, especially the elderly who had to visit the government hospitals.
they suffered because of severe c o n g e s t i o n , lack of beds and private rooms. however, as the number of public hospitals and health centers have doubled (which are free for them) it is no longer feasible to continue with this service.
the premiums paid for the insurance company to provide treatment for retirees exceed one billion dollars a year, which is enough to build the best hospital for retirees, and dispense with afya.
another friend told me that the use of afya card has now been turned into a profi t making machinery and a number of retirees (dishonest citizens) in collusion with a group of expatriates feign illness and check in the private hospitals, and then the government hospitals and request for treatment and laboratory tests and be examined by complex devices, and are given medicines for the disease they have faked, especially expensive medicines, and very little profit goes to the expatriate fraudster.
it has also become common in some private hospitals to contact a retired patient, asking him/her to return for a second examination under the pretext the first examination was inaccurate, and as a result an expatriate at the expense of afya.
some pharmacies have entered the fray and are said to share the slice of the cake by selling medicines under the insurance cover of afya, thus we have consultants and experts who manipulate afya system.
all this may explain the recent strange increase in the number of pharmacies, medical centers and hospitals. we hope that the senior health officials, and the remaining honorable deputies, seriously consider abolishing this destructive system, and build a private hospital for retirees, if necessary, and as this will take time, the government or the concerned insurance company must open offices in government hospitals to ensure this citizen has not visited a private hospital for the same service, treatment or medication, that is to say there must be a type of direct electronic link between the hospital and the company to avoid fraud as much as possible.
it also requires addressing the owners of pharmacies and warning them against the exploitation of the system for illicit enrichment. what we propose here is of concern to many loyal people who care for their homeland, a kind of prevention against diseases that have become known in society.
i have no doubt that these swindlers, a well-known group of citizens and residents will find a method or methods in future to continue their illegal practices.
it is very familiar in life that police track down thieves and fraudsters and not the other way around.
