Provisional liquidators for COMMED announced
The Master of the High Court has appointed Ralph Lutchman‚ Beneste Dicks and Phuti Dibete of Concord Administrators (Pty) Ltd as provisional liquidators to manage the winding up of the Community Medical Aid Scheme (COMMED).
This was disclosed by the Council for Medical Schemes in a statement on Thursday.
The CMS said: "The appointment of the provisional liquidators on 27th November 2017 followed a provisional order obtained by the Registrar of Medical Schemes from the Gauteng Division of the High Court for the winding up of the scheme in terms of section 53 of the Medical Schemes Act‚ 131 of 1998‚ on 14th November 2017.
"...All enquiries and claims by potential creditors‚ including members and healthcare providers‚ should forthwith be directed to the liquidators for further action.
"Healthcare providers are urged to follow this route before any action is taken against members for claims that have not been paid by the scheme."
The CMS said all COMMED members were transferred to Bonitas Medical Fund‚ "to ensure that their interests are protected with effect from 7th August 2017 and only claims for service dates prior to the transfer must be queried with the liquidators."
The provisional liquidation of COMMED was preceded by several processes including the placement of the scheme under provisional curatorship by the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria on 2nd June 2017 due to material irregularities‚ criminal activities and the scheme’s unsound financial position.
Once the provisional curator was able to properly access the true financial position of the scheme it became apparent that the scheme was insolvent and that it would be in the best interests of the members of COMMED to wind-up the scheme after the members had been transferred to the Bonitas Medical Fund.
"The provisional order was granted on an urgent basis and the return date for the final winding up of the scheme was set down for 16 February 2018."