By: Natasha Archary
The South African Health Professionals Collaboration (SAHPC) believes signing the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill into law this week will leave the healthcare sector worse off.
KC Makhubele, Spokesperson for SAHPC joins Gugulethu Mfuphi on Kaya Biz sharing how the bill will limit and not improve the country’s healthcare system.
“We are in support of the universal health coverage that brings practical improvement to the healthcare system for all citizens.
However, we oppose the current South African National Health Bill in its current form as it does not seem to prioritize the wellbeing of patients, and it does not seem to ensure the real improvement and sustainability of the country’s healthcare system.
We do not doubt that the NHI Bill as it stands will be challenged in court, and as a collaboration we are currently exploring our options.
In my opinion, this is a disaster that is in the same proportion as Eskom, but much worse because we are dealing with people’s health.
Operationally, with the way South Africa is handling this, we are not happy at all.”
The SAHPC represents more than 25 000 dedicated private and public sector healthcare workers.
According to Makhubele, the Bill which was first green papered back in 2011, fails to explain how and where the funding will come from.
Amongst other concerns are that despite stakeholders sharing extensive input, the NHI Bill has disregarded these recommendations.
Makhubele says the implementation strategy of the bill is flawed, and stresses that the bill’s current strategy lacks practicality and depth.
There is also the fear that the NHI Bill will put further financial strain on poor and middle class citizens because it has a flawed funding mechanism, as pointed out by SAHPC.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will be signing the NHI Bill into law at the Union Buildings on Wednesday, 15 May.
Listen to the conversation on Kaya Biz:
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