The National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill that was recently passed has been a hot topic for the past two weeks, but what does it mean for the average South African citizen?
On 12 June it was officially passed into law in Parliament. It seeks to provide universal access to medical care services for every South African citizen as set out in the country’s Constitution.
“The Constitution recognises health care as a fundamental human right. It states that ‘everyone has the right to have access to health care services… the state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of these rights and no one may be refused emergency medical treatment,’” reads information compiled by Parliament.
“The NHI Bill seeks to achieve this by ensuring that: no one is deprived of the above mentioned rights because of their socio-economic status; one public health fund is created with adequate resources to plan for and effectively meet the health needs of the entire population, not just for a selected few; and the ultimate goal is to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).”
According to Parliament the NHI will not replace medical aid schemes.
“Members will be free to continue with their medical schemes if they still wish to. When the NHI is fully implemented the role of medical schemes will change as they will provide cover services not reimbursed by the NHI Fund.”
Through the UHC goal government wants to narrow the gap between those fortunate and unfortunate in terms of being able to pay for proper health care.
This means people can visit any health-care facility, public and private, and there won’t be any financial charge, because the NHI fund will cover the costs of people’s medical care in the same way medical aids do for their members.
Although the bill has been approved by Parliament it will be implemented only in phases over a 14-year period. Many have mixed emotions over whether this universal medical fund will be successful or not.
Another issue with the NHI that has come up is that it will be funded by everyone, even if one continues with one’s medical aid and not wish to make use of this new service. This includes general taxes, contributions from people earning above a set amount, and monthly contributions made by the employees to the fund.
“Employers will assist the NHI Fund by ensuring that their workers’ contributions to the NHI fund are collected and submitted, in a similar manner to UIF contributions.”
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