Tag: National Health Insurance (NHI)

South Africa's healthcare system has experienced significant transformations over the years. One of the most pressing issues is the need for more resources and funding, which has resulted in limited access to healthcare services for South Africans.

The National Democratic Revolution (NDR) is the policy blueprint of the governing African National Congress (ANC)/South African Communist Party (SACP) alliance, who have been implementing it in different spheres for more than two decades.

In June 2022, the Pretoria High Court declared the certificate-of-need (CON) provisions in the 2003 National Health Act to be invalid. Although this matter has received little attention in the press, the implications are far reaching for government’s proposed health reforms.

From 1995 to 2015, informal settlements increased by 650% and the current housing backlog has risen to 2.6 million houses. President Cyril Ramaphosa claims that the Expropriation Bill allows the government to 'expropriate land for public use, for use of our people'.

The South African government started discussing the National Health Insurance (NHI) in 2003. After several poor attempts at starting, most people thought that a fully funded first-world healthcare system could never become a reality.

The South African Constitution envisages public participation in the formulation and adoption of public policy. Government claims to consult the public through the participation process, but recent events have confirmed that it effectively ignores public input and regards it with contempt.

The South African government started discussing the NHI (National Health Insurance) in 2003. After several poor attempts at starting, most people thought that a fully funded first-world healthcare system could never become a reality. Furthermore, the role of medical schemes was not clear since no policy direction exists in this regard from the Department of Health. Many medical schemes have since come out supporting the NHI, realising there is room for collaboration and more fundamental co-existence of the two healthcare systems.

The recent presentation at the Board of Healthcare Funder’s annual conference by Christoff Raath, joint-CEO of Insight Actuaries, should garner wide support from the private healthcare industry. Raath quite rightly lamented the incredibly slow pace and prevaricating by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) in developing lower cost medical scheme options that could introduce millions more members into the private health sector.

South Africa continues to produce skilled professionals equipped with the means to drive the South African economy. However, in the older age groups, the number of graduate professionals committed to a career in South Africa is diminishing.

It is evident there are diverse views on the National Health Insurance (NHI) bill. The NHI will always remain a hot topic fuelled by speculation and political ambitions, but none of us can deny that, for the good of the country, the healthcare system needs to transform.