Thesis (LLM. (Labour Law)) -- University of Limpopo, 2012 / The amendment of section 30I (3) of the Pension Funds Act No.24 of 1956 by the provisions of section 30I of the Pension Funds Amendment Act No.11 of 2007 poses a serious threat to the constitutional right to social security (Section 27 (1) (c) of the Constitution). The amendment places this challenge on this right because it places some form of time-barring on the member of the fund or the complainant (his or her dependent) when lodging a pension funds complaint after a prescribed time has elapsed (three years) and the Adjudicator will no longer have no powers to condone such a late referral despite good cause shown and prospects of success on the part of the complainant. The said amendment has placed the poor more especially those in the rural areas in a disadvantageous position, because most of them are illiterate and not aware of their pension law rights. This means that even though they are entitled to the pension funds benefits, they cannot access it if they lodged their complaint outside the three-year period.

HIV testing is required for life assurance applications. A written information document distributed at blood collection (venisection) serves as pre-test preparation. This study reviewed the adequacy of the document and explored possible alternative arrangements, by means of three research phases conducted at the point of venisection. Phase 1 used a specifically designed questionnaire which included a demographic section and questions assessing the applicant's appraisal of being adequately prepared, and their understanding and experience of testing. Constructed measures established their state of anxiety at testing and their range of information about HIV/AIDS. Phase 2 consisted of a counselling intervention, followed by the questionnaire used in Phase 1. Phase 3 consisted of semi-structured interviews with nursing personnel and insurance brokers. The phase 1 results indicated that the majority of applicants knew they were having an HIV test, did not feel coerced, had a moderate level of information about HIV and were not overly anxious at testing. The level of information about HIV/AIDS showed a significant correlation with their level of education, and the information document emerged as inadequate preparation. Answers given in Phase 2 differed qualitatively from those in Phase 1. Greater consideration of the impact of a positive result was shown, with increased concern about the implications for other people and anticipated acceptance of a positive result emerged in Phase 2. The personnel interviewed for Phase 3 indicated that they felt ill equipped to offer pre-test preparation. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

In any given week glance through the nation's leading newspapers and popular magazines and chances are you will find an article on the nation's medically uninsured. In chiding a country that allows 16% of its citizens to suffer the risks associated with that lack of insurance, reference is frequently given to the exemplary coverage provided to federal government employees by the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. What of the benefits provided to state government employees? How good is the coverage, and, of particular interest, are there significant variations across states and what factors might contribute to those differences? This study assesses the level of health care benefits afforded to state government employees in all fifty states and considers the potential impact of political ideology, political culture, economic conditions and public employee union membership in influencing variations in those benefits across the states. The state paid portion of a family’s health care premium was adjusted to allow for differences in health care costs across the states resulting in a range of the level of benefits from $318 per month in Mississippi to $1834 per month in New Hampshire. A state’s economic condition, the level of public union membership, and a moralistic political culture were all shown to have a positive association with the level of benefits. Political ideology, defined as the degree of liberalism, was, however, not shown to have a statistical association. Understanding health care benefit differences between states and the factors that drive those differences has the potential of improving lives and the functioning of state governments. Scant information on those differences exist in the current literature; this study has developed a baseline of information and an assessment of driving influences that will, hopefully, stimulate additional approaches and research efforts. Benefits, in general, have been shown in the literature to impact the ability of state governments to attract and maintain employees of merit. Advocates of increased benefits can utilize these study results to place their requests in a broader context.

Thesis (LLM. (Labour Law)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / This study discusses the legal analysis of social security rights of domestic workers in the South African social security law. The notion social security is concerned with the protection of individuals during the happening of certain event such as unemployment, maternity, disability, old age, sickness, and death. For the purpose of this study, social insurance schemes which arise from the employment relationship will be explored. It is submitted that domestic workers like any other employees should also be afforded social security protection as envisaged in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (the Constitution). Therefore, domestic workers must also be provided social security rights arising out of their employment. Thus, the research process will involve thorough analysis of statutes, case law, textbooks and scholarly articles dealing with the social security law protection afforded to domestic workers, in particular the social insurance component of social security. For an exceptionally long time, domestic workers have been excluded from the formal employment sector, which followed that they were automatically excluded from social security protection. Despite section 9 of the Constitution, this espouses non-discrimination and equal treatment of all the workers in South Africa. To this end, there is no comprehensive social security system in South Africa that is capable of providing adequate social protection to domestic workers. For example, most domestic workers have no pension fund, and some are not registered with Unemployment Insurance fund and Compensation for Injuries and Diseases schemes.

Given the general poor state of health care and the devastating effect of user fee, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was instituted as a health financing policy with the main purpose to ensure universal access for all Nigerians. However, since NHIS became operational in 2005, only members of scheme are able to access health care both in the public and in private sectors, representing about 3% of Nigerian population. The thesis therefore examines the design and implementation policy of NHIS in Oyo state, Nigeria. Key design issues conceptual framework guides the analysis of data. The framework identifies three health interrelated financing functions namely revenue collection, risk pooling and purchasing. Data was collected from the NHIS officials, employees of the Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) and the Health Care Providers (HCPs) using key informant interview. In addition, in-depth interview and semi structure questionnaire were used to gather data from the enrolees and the nonenrolees. Empirical findings show that NHIS is fragmented given the existence of several programmes. In addition, there is no risk pooling neither redistribution of funds in the scheme. Revenue generated through contributions from the enrolees was not sufficient to fund health care services received by the beneficiaries because of the small percentage of the Nigerian population that the scheme covers. Further findings indicate that enrolled federal civil servants have not commenced monthly contribution to the NHIS. They pay 10% as co-pay in every consultation while federal government as an employer subsidised by 90%. Majority (76.8%) of the respondents agreed that they were financially protected from catastrophic spending. However, the overall benefit package was rated moderate because of exclusion of some priority and essential health care needs. Although above half (57%) of the respondents concurred that HMOs are accessible, in the overall, (47.6%) of the respondents were not satisfied with their services. In the case of the HCPs, majority (61.9%) of the respondents claimed that there is no excessive waiting time for consultation. Furthermore, (64.3%) rated their interpersonal relationship with the HCPs to be good. However, more than half of the respondents (54%) disagreed on availability of prescribed drugs in NHIS accredited health facilities. For the nonenrolees, findings show that most of the respondents (72.9%) were willing to enrol, but significant proportion (47.5%) indicated financial constraint as impediment to enrolment. / Sociology / D. Phil. (Sociology)