The Green and White Papers on the National Health Insurance (NHI) system could be ready for public comment and consultation by the end of the year, the Health Ministry has announced.
The legislation could be expected by the beginning of the next financial year in April, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
”We are busy preparing a submission on the NHI in consultation with our colleagues in the Cabinet and relevant government departments towards eventual approval by the national Cabinet,” Deputy Health Minister Dr Molefi Sefularo told a conference marking the 10th anniversary of the Board of Healthcare Funders in North West this week.
”Once approved, the document will be released for public debates and consultations.”
He said the consensus so far was that the NHI be implemented in a phased manner to allow for consultation, policy-making and legislation review.
Acknowledging that implementation of the NHI system would be a complex and demanding process, he said it represented a watershed moment for the future of the national health system.
”We all have to understand that it will take time. The NHI could safeguard social solidarity and universal coverage as has been the case in many other countries.
”How we get to the NHI is still a subject for debate …”
Sefularo said the country faced a time of renewal for the healthcare system.
The failure in the past to get the NHI off the ground had resulted in a spiralling of health costs, which had called into question the sustainability of the private healthcare sector.
”… We have sufficient evidence to change the course. We should embark on activities that are aimed at changing the current health system for the better. The NHI is one of those interventions,” he said.
”We are committed to provide space for all stakeholders and role-players to contribute meaningfully to the project of strengthening the national health system.”
Sefularo told the conference that most of the country’s health funding should flow through the NHI to ensure more equal access to healthcare.
”It is within this context that the present dominant role of medical schemes in healthcare funding needs to be reviewed,” he said in a speech presented on his behalf at the Board of Healthcare Funders conference in Sun City.
”The current concentration of healthcare resources in one sector that benefits the few is not what we envisage,” he said.
The proposed model for the NHI suggested adjustments to revenue collection, the pooling of funds, the purchasing of services and the provision of these services to the general public.
”The intention is that the National Health Insurance will be funded from two sources of revenue, namely general tax revenue and an earmarked mandatory contribution.”
All employed individuals would have to make a mandatory contribution into a national health insurance fund, which would be publicly administered and managed.
Ways to ensure that this led to the provision of quality healthcare were being considered. — Sapa