President to sign NHI Bill into law

JOHANNESBURG - President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to sign the contentious National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill into law today.

The Presidency issued a statement on Monday evening announcing the news in its latest update on progress regarding the signing of the Bill.

Sign

During his State of the Nation Address (SONA), in February, Ramaphosa joked that he was ‘looking for a pen’ to sign it.

“The Bill has arrived on my desk. I am going through the Bill. I am looking for a pen,” the president said.

With scarcely three weeks left before the May 29 election and the popularity of the African National Congress (ANC) waning, the president has found his pen. According to the statement, Ramaphosa will publicly sign the NHI Bill at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

Plans

Signing the Bill into law will set into motion the government’s plans for universal health coverage by creating a unified health system that provides patients with care that is free at the point of delivery – whether at a public or private facility.

During his SONA, the president revealed that government plans to incrementally implement the NHI, dealing with issues like health system financing, the health workforce, medical products, vaccines and technologies, as well as health information systems.

Role

The Health Department has explained that private medical schemes will continue to exist under the NHI system, but ‘their role will change’.

“When the NHI is fully implemented they will provide cover for services not reimbursable by the NHI Fund,” it said.

The latest move of signing the bill into law sets the stage for a protracted fight with business, healthcare professionals and opposition parties .

A wide range of organisations have, however, called on Ramaphosa to not sign the NHI Bill into law based on the state of public health in South

Africa.

As a major stakeholder in South African health resource distribution, the Health Funders Association (HFA) is a professional body representing medical schemes and almost half the national medical aid membership.

Devastating

Craig Comrie, chairperson of the HFA, told The Citizen recently that if the NHI Bill is enacted by the president with Section 33, which precludes private health funding involvement, it would have devastating consequences.

“Such a move would erode the current world-class private healthcare system and further threaten the country’s already stretched healthcare provider base.’’