I was interested to read the Council for Medical Schemes’ report on Medical Aids.  It listed seven Schemes that have a solvency level below the statutory requirement of 25% during 2014.  One of those is the Government Employees Medical Fund, namely GEMS.  They have a solvency rate of 10% and only Resolution Health at 9,4% has a lower solvency rate.  I am not surprised to see GEMS there because it is after all a Government Employees Fund, and not only do they get extraordinary benefits but they are also the only Medical Aid in the country where, if one of their members is injured in an accident, the Medical Aid not only pays the money to all the doctors and service providers, but lets the member keep the money at the end of the case!  It clearly illustrates that this is not a viable policy, and I am sure this is not the only reason for the Medical Aid having problems, but it does indicate that it is an extraordinary generous offer by a Medical Aid.  Of course, government employees are ultimately paid by taxpayers, and so one can be extraordinarily generous with their Medical Aid in any event, because you are not running it like a business – if you really get into problems, you will just get more money from the members of the public and not the business that is being run so badly.