Funding for NHI still a mystery
Fix ailing state hospitals first – detractors
NOW THAT Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has gazetted the National Health Insurance Bill, he is yet to reveal where the money will come from.
Motsoaledi yesterday said the primary objective of the long-awaited bill was to ensure that every citizen in South Africa had access to the public and private health sectors without prejudice.
But some have questioned the necessity of the NHI, as the public healthcare system struggles.
“The NHI is simply not feasible. We’ve seen how NHI pilot projects across the country fail dismally,” said the DA’s member of the health portfolio committee, Lungiswa James.
“Doctors and pharmacy assistants contracted to assist with NHI projects have allegedly not received salaries from the Department of Health’s payroll administrator,” she said. The DA would continue to expose the NHI for what it truly is – unaffordable, impractical and unfair, she said.
Motsoaledi, who has faced a barrage of criticism for the past few months over his handling of the health portfolio, yesterday turned his focus on the medical aid sector, saying healthcare would no longer favour the wealthy.
On several occasions, the sector has come under fire for charging high fees to subscribers. Motsoaledi says through the National Health Insurance, this would change.
Speaking in Pretoria, Motsoaledi announced that his department was now inviting the public to comment on his proposed Medical Schemes Amendment Act, and the NHI Bill, which have been approved by the cabinet.
In his proposed amendments, Motsoaledi called for the abolition of medical aid co-payments and prescribed minimum benefits, and unequal and unfair benefit options offered by schemes.
On average, comprehensive medical aid cover costs middle-income households any- thing between R1 000 and R4 000 a month.
“The amendment means every cent charged to the patient must be settled fully by the scheme. The patient should not be burdened with having to pay,” he said.
Previously, health officials had raised the dilemma the public healthcare system faces due to private patients flocking to state hospitals once their medical aid funds had been depleted.
Pains
Motsoaledi was at pains to detail how the NHI would succeed amid the turbulence his state hospitals and clinics faced, but he maintained that the primary objective of the NHI Bill was to ensure every citizen had access to the public and private health sectors without prejudice.
“We are very much alive to the problems of poor quality and lack of efficiency in the public healthcare system. That is not a matter of debate. Fixing the quality of public healthcare is an ongoing and continuous process,” Motsoaledi said.
The Board of Healthcare Funders of Southern Africa (BHF) said it supported the proposed amendments.
The BHF represents 45 medical aid schemes in the country, and an additional 23 other schemes in several other African countries, which include Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi, Lesotho and Swaziland.
“As an industry representative body, we support the intention and action aimed at ensuring that the greater population of the country receives quality healthcare,” its chairperson, Dr Ali Hamdulay, said.
The SACP also welcomed the release of the bill, saying it came at a time of growing concern over the affordability of medical aids.
“South Africa must roll back the dominance of medical schemes in healthcare financing through the creation of a single NHI Fund,” the party said. It also targeted the Council of Medical Schemes, saying any of its provisions in conflict with what the bill proposed had to be scrapped.
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union said while it welcomed the bill, it was concerned that Motsoaledi had released the Medical Scheme Amendment Bill before the findings of the Health Market Inquiry had been made known.
It said the inquiry was meant to deal with matters that have a direct bearing on the current operations of medical aid schemes and private hospitals.