Chapter VIII: Medical aid


71. First aid

[Section 71 repealed by section 27 of Act No. 61 of 1997]

72. Conveyance of injured employee

1) If an employee meets with an accident which necessitates his conveyance to a hospital or medical practitioner or from a hospital or medical practitioner to his residence, his employer shall forthwith make the necessary conveyance available.

2) The Director-General or the employer individually liable or mutual association concerned, as the we may be, shall pay the reasonable cost (as determined by the Director-General) incurred in respect of that conveyance.

3) Any employer who fails to comply with subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence.

73. Medical expenses

1) The Director-General or the employer individually liable or mutual association concerned, as the case may be, shall for a period of not more than two years from the date of an accident or the commencement of a disease referred to in section 65(1) pay the reasonable cost incurred by or on behalf of an employee in respect of medical aid necessitated by such accident or disease.

2) If, in the opinion of the Director-General, further medical aid in addition to that referred to in subsection (1) will reduce the disablement from which the employee is suffering, he may pay the cost incurred in respect of such further aid or direct the employer individually liable or the mutual association concerned, as the case may be, to pay it.

74. Submission of medical report

1) A medical practitioner or chiropractor shall within 14 days after having for the first time examined an employee injured in an accident or within 14 days after having diagnosed an occupational disease in an employee, furnish a medical report to the employer concerned in the prescribed manner: Provided that where the employee was at the time of the diagnosis of an occupational disease not employed, the medical report shall be furnished in the prescribed manner to the commissioner.

2) If the commissioner or the employer individually liable or mutual association concerned, as the case may be, requires further medical reports regarding an employee, the medical practitioner or chiropractor who has treated or is treating the employee shall upon request furnish the desired reports in the manner and at the time and intervals specified or prescribed.

3) If a medical practitioner or chiropractor fails to furnish a medical report as required in subsection (1) or (2) or in the opinion of the commissioner or the employer individually liable or mutual association concerned, as the case may be, fails to complete it in a satisfactory manner, such party may defer the payment of the cost of the medical aid concerned until the report has been furnished or completed in a satisfactory manner, and no action for the recovery of the said cost shall be instituted before the report has been so furnished or completed.

4) No remuneration shall be payable to a medical practitioner or chiropractor for the completion and furnishing of a report referred to in subsection (1) or (2).

5) A medical practitioner or chiropractor shall at the request of an employee or the dependant of an employee furnish such employee or dependant with a copy of the report referred to in subsection (1).

75. Director-General to decide on need for, and nature and sufficiency of, medical aid

All questions regarding the need for, and the nature and sufficiency of, any medical aid supplied or to be supplied in terms of this Chapter shall be decided by the Director-General.

76. Fees for medical aid

1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the cost of medical ad shall be calculated in accordance with a tariff of fees determined by the Director-General.

2) The tariff of fees for medical aid affecting the Medical Association of South Africa, the Chiropractic Association of South Africa and the Dental Association of South Africa shall be determined after consultation with those associations.

3) If the Director-General or an employer individually liable or a mutual association is liable m terms of this Act for the payment of the cost of medical aid--

  1. no amount in excess of that determined in the tariff of fees or, if no amount has been determined for particular medical aid, no amount in excess of that deemed reasonable by the Director-General, shall be recoverable for the medical aid concerned;
  2. no amount in respect of the said cost shall be recoverable from the employee or an employer other than an employer individually liable.

77. Contributions by employees towards cost of medical aid prohibited

1) An employer who demands or receives from an employee a contribution towards the cost of medical aid supplied or to be supplied in terms of this Act, shall be guilty of an offence.

2) If an employer has been convicted of contravening subsection (1), the Director-General may in the prescribed form issue an order against that employer for the payment of the amount that he received contrary to the provisions of subsection (1), and section 61(2) and (3) shall then apply mutatis mutandis in respect of such order and amount.

78. Medical aid provided by employers

1) If an employer makes arrangements to provide to his employees injured in accidents medical aid which in the opinion of the Director-General is not less favourable to the employees than that provided for in this Chapter, the Director-General may, subject to such conditions as he may determine, approve such arrangements.

2) If the Director-General has approved the arrangements referred to in subsection (1)--

  1. the employees concerned shall be entitled to medical aid in accordance with the arrangements;
  2. the employer concerned shall not be required to provide or pay for medical aid except in accordance with the said arrangements;
  3. the Director-General may reimburse an employer who is not individually liable so much out of the compensation fund or reduce his assessment to such an extent as he may deem equitable.

3) The Director-General may at any time withdraw the approval or amend the conditions referred to in subsection (1).

79. Consultation of representative medical authorities by Director-General

The Director-General may consult the South African Medical and Dental Council referred to in the Medical, Dental and Supplementary Health Service Professions Act, 1974 Act 56 of 1974j, the Medical Association of South Africa, the Chiropractic Association of South Africa and any other representative medical authority concerning matters connected with or arising out of the application of the provisions of this Act with regard to medical aid, and may for that purpose disclose any information relating to a matter in respect of which the views of the Council, the Associations or other authority are required.