The health system in South Africa is unique in many ways. South Africa spends 41.8% of total health expenditures on private voluntary health insurance – more than any OECD country – but only 17% of the population – mostly high income citizens - can afford to purchase private insurance. Given the magnitude of private health expenditures, the activities in the private health care market have an important impact on the functioning of the health care system as a whole. Medical schemes (private health insurance) in South Africa mainly finance care that is predominantly delivered by private providers (i.e., private hospitals, specialists, general practitioners, pharmacies). Therefore, these schemes primarily finance an alternative to seeking care in the public sector and offer services that duplicate those available in the public sector.
