DA vows to fight NHI bill ‘to end’
THE DA has threatened to fight the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill right up to the county’s apex court.
The bill was introduced last week to the national legislature by health minister Zweli Mkhize and has since been referred to the health portfolio committee for consideration.
Briefing the media in Parliament yesterday, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said the bill fell short of ensuring that universal health access would be achieved.
Maimane said when liberation movements ran out of ideas, they sought to create expensive mechanisms that did not provide adequate services to citizens.
He cited the case of former Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe who has reportedly been receiving health care for the last four months in Singapore, rather than in his own country.
“It is clear that NHI will not be to the benefit of citizens. It will be of benefit to the elite,” Maimane said.
He charged that when the NHI failed, the elite would have the means and go elsewhere.
“We have to pursue access to health care for all citizens.”
Maimane said the country was not in a fiscal position to afford the NHI and that it limited the rights of citizens to make a choice.
“The essence of a democratic right is that people are able to choose where to go and get the best health care.”
He said the NHI undermined the power of provinces and what these provinces were able to do in the area of health care.
“It is on that basis that I and the party will take every measure possible to oppose this bill. We believe this bill may very well be unconstitutional.”
“We will begin this fight by exercising internal remedies to ensure it passes constitutional muster and rules of Parliament.”
DA shadow minister of health Siviwe Gwarube said the bill, as it stood, would not deliver universal health care amid deepening inequalities where 84% of the population relied on public health care and 16% on private health care.
She cited five grounds on which the DA opposed the bill, including the provision of an NHI Fund ( the pooling of funds both from the public and private sectors) with the minister of health having sole discretionary powers.
“This really brings flashbacks to what happened to SOEs. This is the single biggest issue we (object to) with this bill,” Gwarube said.
She charged that NHI would lead to fragmentation of the health system when powers were eroded from provinces. “If you take one element and put it in one level of government, you take away accountability,” Gwarube said.
We believe this bill may very well be unconstitutional
Mmusi Maimane DA leader