Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi says the National Health Insurance system will be phased in over 14 years.
Speaking at the fifth Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) central committee meeting on Wednesday, Motsoaledi said such systems had to be phased in over time.
Cosatu and its allies, the ruling African National Congress and the South African Communist Party have been pushing for a universal health care system to be implemented in the country.
Motsoaledi said the current health system was unsustainable as most of the money was spent at high level specialist and mainly private hospitals, while the majority of the health issues could be handled by community clinics and education on health issues.
He said the major problem was that private medical aids did not pay their members for staying healthy or taking medication that would keep them healthy.
“They want you to be very sick first before they pay,” Motsoaledi said.
He also called for the prices in health care, particularly the private sector, to be regulated.
“Why should a circumcision cost R15 000 in a private hospital, while in a public hospital it costs just R400? It is the simplest of procedures,” he said. — I-Net Bridge