Oral health finance and expenditure in South Africa

The objective of this paper was to examine the cost of oral health in South Africa over the past decade Particular emphasis was placed on the contribution made by medical schemes which is the main source of private health care funding. Some of the problems facing this huge industry were also briefly explored. Primary aggregate data on oral health expenditure were obtained from the Department of Health, Pretoria and from the offices of the Registrar of Medical Schemes, Pretoria. The results show that in 1994, 4.7 per cent of the total health care budget was allocated to oral health. Of this amount, 14.2 per cent came from the state, 71.9 per cent from medical schemes and the remainder calculated to be from direct out-of-pocket payments. Furthermore, real expenditure for oral health by medical schemes grew robustly and almost continuously from 1984 through to 1994, generally outstripping medical inflation.