Health insurance for SA ‘is on track’

Plans are within the 14-year deadline, minister says

HEALTH Minister Aaron Motsoaledi believes the government is on track to implement the National Health Insurance (NHI) over 14 years, despite not yet having completed the financing model.

The minister’s progress report on the implementation of the NHI came in the same week that his party, the ANC, released discussion documents on implementing the scheme.

In its discussion documents, the ANC called on the government and Parliament to speed up processes for the rollout of the NHI.

“On the implementation of the NHI, actively engage all relevant structures of the ANC and the alliance in the movement and in Parliament to fasttrack the finalisation of the white paper on the NHI and the necessary legislative framework to ensure that the NHI fund and legislation are in place by the date of the next national conference,” says the discussion document.

It states that the NHI should start at primary healthcare level and that the ANC must engage all parties on the issue.

The document further states that the Department of Health and the Treasury must finalise the NHI financing model.

On Friday, Motsoaledi told Parliament the Health Ministry had kept within the schedule of 14 years to roll out the NHI.

The first phase, where at least 10 pilot sites across the country were set up in the past five years, had been done.

This was part of the preparatory phase for the NHI.

He said the white paper on the NHI had been completed and all that was outstanding was the financing model by the government, which the Treasury was finalising.

He said he had spoken to the Treasury and the Presidency to expedite that process.

Motsoaledi said the fact that the first phase had been completed since the launch of the NHI in 2010 meant the government could move on to the second part of the rollout.

The second part of the NHI entailed setting up various structures over the next five years. He said the last four years of the NHI would be the full implementation of the programme.

The NHI wasn’t an easy programme to put in place, as had been proved in many countries that have universal health coverage.

Qatar believed that 18 years would be sufficient to fully implement it, said Motsoaledi.

“Whether we will do it on time… only time will tell. That is why The Lancet (medical journal) calls it the third transition in health,” he said.

The first transition was in the 1800s, the second health transition was immunisation in the 1900s, and The Lancet said the third would be universal health coverage.

The minister reiterated that it wasn’t easy to implement the NHI, and the US had also proved that with Obamacare, for which President Barack Obama was taken to court by people who were against the policy.

Motsoaledi said South Africa could have the NHI up and running in 14 years. But the financing part would have to be completed, and other processes, as directed by the government, would follow, he said.