Complex Covid jabs records cause qualified audit
An apparent disagreement over the Department of Health’s financial records for the Covid-19 vaccination programme has resulted in a qualified audit for the 2021/2022 fiscal year, the first time since 2010/2011 that it has failed to get a clean bill of health from the Auditor-General.
The department procured Covid-19 vaccines on behalf of the entire population and established a programme that allowed people to obtain free shots at either public or private sector sites, regardless of their medical scheme status, notes Business Day.
A complex reconciliation process has ensued, with the state claiming payments from medical schemes for members who received jabs at public sector sites, while private sector providers have sought reimbursement from the department and medical schemes.
Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke said she was unable to obtain sufficient audit evidence for R2.079bn in accrued revenue the department had attributed to Covid-19 vaccines for 2021/2022.
‘The systems of internal controls implemented by the department were not always adequate for the recording of some transactions and events relating to the recoupment process of the Covid-19 vaccine programme. I could not confirm accrued departmental revenue by alternative means,’ she said in the department’s 2021/ 2022 annual report, which has been tabled in Parliament.
The department is ‘extremely disappointed’ with the AG’s conclusion, said deputy DG for National Health Insurance Nicholas Crisp, who heads the vaccination programme.
The financial reconciliation of the programme was extremely complicated, partly because the payment for each shot was determined by an individual’s medical scheme status on the date they received their jab.
He said the AG failed to appreciate that the medical scheme population was in constant flux, and it was thus inappropriate to reconcile records drawn on different dates.
Individuals switched schemes, resigned, ceased to be dependants or took up membership for the first time.
‘The AG has not understood how the reimbursement of vaccinations works. We have tried to explain, but even the actuaries who manage the private interface have not been able to convince them. We provided everything asked for,’ Business Day quotes Crisp as saying.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
