Legalbrief Today reported yesterday on articles in Die Burger and the Cape Argus on briefings to Parliament’s Health Committee by the Health Professions Council (HPCSA) and the Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF).
The HPCSA said it welcomed NHI because it will aid in reducing inequalities between the public and private sectors; ensure quality assurance for universal health coverage and enforce professional codes of conduct and ethics. According to a Cape Argus report, HPCSA president, Professor Simon Nemutandani, suggested that the NHI be funded through the tax of all employed South Africans. ‘Private medical aid schemes would continue to exist, but funded separately over and above tax paid for the NHI.’ The HPCSA also suggested current reserves of medical schemes – estimated to be more than R90bn – be transferred to the NHI, Die Burger reports. Nemutandani told MPs the system will work if there is only one financer of healthcare services. ‘The NHI must take over and all assets of medical schemes must be transferred to the fund,’ he said. Current medical cover providers should be allowed to continue as insurance products and the Medical Schemes Act should be abolished in its entirety, he added.
The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) said in its presentations that several aspects of the Bill were problematic and susceptible to constitutional challenges. This includes a provision in the Bill that transfers powers and duties of provinces to the national government. The BHF also expects challenges from healthcare service providers and members of the public due to restrictions on choices. Committee chairperson Sibongiseni Dhlomo said the portfolio committee had received requests from more than 130 organisations to make oral submissions about the Bill.
Click here to read a related BusinessTech article.
While politicians continue to flog the proverbial dead horse, the suffering of the poorest of the poor gets worse. It would make much more sense, from a time and financial perspective, to restore the existing decaying facilities and infrastructure, rather than fight against the tide in untested waters. Given the dire state of the country’s economy, and the uncertainty resulting from the Covid pandemic, this is a time for realism, not pipe dreaming.
