Libcare Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2023, Trustee Changes, and National Health Insurance Bill

The Libcare AGM was held at the Liberty Braamfontein offices on 28 June 2023. The Libcare Rules require an in-person attendance at the AGM, and it was very pleasing to have twenty-three members attend in person, including a number of retirees. As always at the Libcare AGM, there was lively and constructive discussion during the meeting on the matters on the agenda, as well as the opportunity to catch-up with each other and enjoy refreshments afterwards. Based on the 2022 Annual Financial Statements as distributed to the members, the Scheme remains in a healthy financial position, with careful on-going monitoring of the key metrics by the Trustees. A copy of the draft minutes of the AGM is available to view on the Libcare website login www.libcare.co.za.

Following the election to the one vacancy at the AGM, and the subsequent filling of a further two vacancies which arose after the AGM due to the resignations of Ms P Bam and Mr M Diab, the new additions to the Board of Trustees are Ms Z Dwayi, Dr R Erasmus and Mr N Govender. The 2023 Libcare Member Guide, available on the Libcare website login, has been updated to reflect the changes on the Board.

National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill Update

Although not part of the business of an AGM, given its topicality, there was an update at the AGM on the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill. At the time of the meeting, the Bill had recently been passed by the National Assembly. The next phase in Parliament's process of evaluating the Bill involves public participation, where ordinary citizens and other interested parties can give input. Libcare is a subscribing member of the medical schemes industry body - the Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF), which has embarked on an inclusive public information campaign to assist medical scheme members and other health citizens with useful information on NHI. Attached to this newsletter is the August 2023 letter from BHF's The Health Citizen initiative which provides further explanation and references on key NHI matters. See also www.thehealthcitizen.co.za for on-going updates and explainers.