{"id":61122,"date":"2024-02-17T17:40:10","date_gmt":"2024-02-17T17:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-rational-reason-for-nhi-in-south-africa"},"modified":"2024-02-17T19:28:29","modified_gmt":"2024-02-17T19:28:29","slug":"no-rational-reason-for-nhi-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-rational-reason-for-nhi-in-south-africa","title":{"rendered":"No rational reason for NHI in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>There is no rationale for South Africa to implement the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill in its current form, as it poses a threat to both the public and private healthcare systems.<\/p>\n

This is feedback from Wits School of Governance Professor Alex van den Heever, who told Newzroom Afrika that the NHI will disrupt healthcare provision in South Africa with potentially devastating consequences.<\/p>\n

Van den Heever\u2019s comments come on the back of President Cyril Ramaphosa saying that despite the threat of legal challenges, the NHI Bill will be signed into law soon.<\/p>\n

Ramaphosa joked during his State of the Nation Address that he was looking around for a pen to sign the Bill.<\/p>\n

Parliament\u2019s National Council of Provinces approved the Bill in December. It was referred to the President, who can either assent to it or ask lawmakers to amend it if deemed legally or technically flawed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is extremely controversial and potentially very prejudicial to the healthcare system as a whole, both the public sector and private sector,\u201d Van den Heever said.<\/p>\n

Van den Heever explained that the Bill seeks to collapse the provincial healthcare system and centralise it in a national institution that does not exist yet while also collapsing private funding for healthcare.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are disturbing the entire current healthcare system and attempting to create a new, third system which you claim will be better. There is no rationale for that kind of move. There is no real reason for this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe concern is that the real reason for this is to consolidate power in one entity that will result, in its ultimate form, in R600 billion being under the control of the Health Minister. That is just wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the design that has collapsed pretty much everything that we have in the state at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

He clarified that he is not against the concept of NHI and enabling everyone to have access to quality healthcare but is against the current form of the NHI.<\/p>\n

Van den Heever\u2019s concerns echo those of the University of Johannesburg\u2019s Dr Xolisile Ngumbela, who said the NHI should be implemented in South Africa. However, the government cannot be trusted to do so alone.<\/p>\n

He said the government shouldn\u2019t drive away big businesses and the private sector. Instead, there should be a partnership between the private and public sectors to implement NHI in South Africa effectively.<\/p>\n

In particular, there should be a clear approach to the management of the next system, as \u201cit can\u2019t be the next Eskom or SAA\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we need is a proper implementation with checks and balances and with a project manager so that it can be a seamless healthcare system for all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to Ngumbela, the government also \u201ccannot be trusted\u201d with the massive sums of money required to fund NHI in the country. This is another reason the system requires both public and private partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t trust the government. Look at the state entities \u2013 they are all failing because the government can\u2019t manage these finances and the large sums of money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould we leave it to the government, it will lead us to a monopoly and corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the government must first focus on fixing the current system \u2013 its infrastructure, management and governance issues \u2013 before it attempts to implement NHI.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current system is flawed \u2013 it can\u2019t really guarantee Section 27 of the Constitution. Let\u2019s level the playing field before we get into the NHI,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

However, Ngumbela pointed out that the public sector faces several challenges, including having their medical professionals \u201cpoached\u201d by the private sector.<\/p>\n

This is why both sectors need to work together rather than having one take over the system completely.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t afford to fold our arms and say, \u2018Let\u2019s let the private sector take over.\u2019 As we move along, we need to fix the current system.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. There is no rationale for South Africa to implement the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill in its current form, as it poses a threat to both the public and private healthcare systems. This is feedback from Wits School of Governance Professor Alex van den Heever, who told Newzroom Afrika that the NHI […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":61121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-61122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nNo rational reason for NHI in South Africa - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There is no rationale for South Africa to implement the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill in its current form, as it ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-rational-reason-for-nhi-in-south-africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No rational reason for NHI in South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There is no rationale for South Africa to implement the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill in its current form, as it ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-rational-reason-for-nhi-in-south-africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-17T17:40:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-17T19:28:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/02\/sm_1708184773.289229.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-rational-reason-for-nhi-in-south-africa#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-rational-reason-for-nhi-in-south-africa\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"No rational reason for NHI in South Africa\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-17T17:40:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-17T19:28:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-rational-reason-for-nhi-in-south-africa\"},\"wordCount\":678,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-rational-reason-for-nhi-in-south-africa#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/02\/sm_1708184773.289229.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-rational-reason-for-nhi-in-south-africa#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-rational-reason-for-nhi-in-south-africa\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-rational-reason-for-nhi-in-south-africa\",\"name\":\"No rational reason for NHI in South Africa - 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