(3 Minutes Read)
The NHI aims to provide universal healthcare coverage through a major overhaul of the country’s two-tier system. It will gradually limit the role of private healthcare insurance which fewer than 16% of South Africans have. Supporters see the Bill as a positive change that will reverse inequalities dating back to the apartheid era.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said he is committed to implementing the National Health Insurance Bill, despite strong opposition from within and outside the government. He signed the controversial Bill into law just before his African National Congress party lost its parliamentary majority in the May elections.
The NHI aims to provide universal healthcare coverage through a major overhaul of the country’s two-tier system. It will gradually limit the role of private healthcare insurance which fewer than 16% of South Africans have. Supporters see the Bill as a positive change that will reverse inequalities dating back to the apartheid era.
However, political parties and other stakeholders opposed to the NHI argue the proposed funding model will not work. There have also been concerns that its implementation will be undermined by widespread corruption, and budget restraints which already see the country struggling to fund other basic services.
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Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said that sections of the bill will be implemented immediately. This includes setting up advisory committees and amending other health-related laws in line with the NHI. But he added that it would be implemented in phases over the years and acknowledged that legal challenges could delay its roll-out.
