Billions allocated for NHI scheme

FINANCE Minister Tito Mboweni has given the Department of Health billions of rand to ramp up infrastructure projects for the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme.

In the Budget Review yesterday, Mboweni announced R19.9 billion will be given to the department over three years to build hospitals and refurbish them.

The NHI is a key programme of government, which wants the scheme to be implemented soon.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has indicated in the past that his department would need to improve infrastructure at state healthcare facilities ahead of the roll-out of universal health coverage.

In the Budget, government allocated more than R55.6 million to do the groundwork for the NHI.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has said it would take five years to fully roll out NHI, but has given no indications on the figures.

Ramaphosa said it was a travesty that R250bn was spent by 20% of the population on private healthcare.

He said it would be important to implement NHI to provide quality healthcare to all the people.

According to the Budget Review: “Over the medium term, R55.6m is reprioritised to the Department of Health to strengthen its capacity to phase in NHI. This allocation will be reviewed as NHI is implemented.”

Mboweni said in his Budget speech that the issue of NHI must be discussed in the country.

The government has come under pressure from some opposition parties, which have said that the NHI would not be sustainable.

But Ramaphosa assured the country this week that the NHI would be done in a fiscally sustainable manner.