GEMS a key BEE driver in medical schemes industry

Thursday 25 September 2014

The Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) has, since its inception, impacted meaningfully on black economic empowerment (BEE) and transformation across the industry. This is according to a case study into the Scheme's impact on the funded healthcare sector.

The study, undertaken by journalist Loraine Tulleken and editor Maureen Miller, involved 100 interviews across a broad spectrum of people, including service providers, academics and industry leaders.  It spans the context in which GEMS was first mooted in 2001/2002 to December 2013, when it emerged as the country's largest closed scheme, serving 1.85 million lives.

Tulleken emphasises that the BEE trail was intentional. ‘The first business plan submitted to the Registrar of Medical Schemes included a commitment to facilitate empowerment, mainly through procurement processes. By 2013 this had also evolved into a client liaison project that trains and employs graduates.'

Twenty percent of the procurement criteria refer to black empowerment.

Tulleken reveals that while all the service providers insisted that they had always had a black empowerment policy, several respondents conceded that the process had been accelerated.

Black women, brought on board by service providers to serve on their GEMS team, were convinced that their appointment and subsequent career paths had come about because the Scheme's mantra had been ‘we see the BEE scorecards but where are the black faces?'

What also helped was the Scheme's operational success. As Yvonne Motsisi, executive director of Medscheme at the time of the case study said, the level of efficiency and effective management had served as a wonderful counter to the perception that black people are not able to manage effectively.

Commenting that transformation is not just about numbers, skills transfer and ensuring transformation at senior level in companies, Motsisi added: ‘Service providers contracting with GEMS have also had to develop suitable managers and consultants, with a strong focus on black people, to service the scheme. This became the catalyst for transformation and skills transfer, without compromising service levels. Those who serve GEMS deserve to be in their positions because they are the best, and this makes the process truly empowering.

‘GEMS has also demonstrated a deep appreciation for diversity and the different cultures that make up South African society. In African culture it is common to look after a sibling's children as one's own, and the definition of dependants, for example, has changed dramatically to include anyone living in the principal member's home who is financially dependent on the member.' Notably, Medscheme went from a Level 8 BEE rating to a Level 3 rating in a relatively short time.

Blum Khan, Metropolitan CEO, concurred. ‘GEMS has created positive change and certainly paved the way for us to drive change in our own business. The growth allowed us to continue to make positive inroads across all facets of empowerment, be it procurement from black-owned companies, employment equity or skills development.'

Khan predicted that GEMS would continue to progressively influence the industry landscape.