Private sector will remain independent when NHI implemented - Health Dept

JOHANNESBURG - The Health Department said that the private sector would remain independent when National Health Insurance (NHI) was implemented.

The NHI Bill is expected to be tabled in Parliament early next year despite opposition from some opposition political parties, private healthcare practitioners and other lobby groups.

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Those opposed to the NHI have raised concerns that it will decimate private practice and limit choices for the South African public.

However, the department has denied this.

Deputy director-general responsible for the NHI in the Health Department, Dr Nicholas Crisp, said that the NHI was not meant to destroy private healthcare provision.

"The intention is that private providers will remain independent. The fund will purchase healthcare from them. The problem is the many different purchasing mechanisms from medical schemes which are divergent and costly."

Crisp insists that the country can afford the NHI despite concerns that its total cost is unclear.

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"We spend 8.5% of our GDP on healthcare and that’s more than what we should be spending. The challenge for the NHI is to redirect that money. We don’t need more money."

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has threatened legal action against Parliament if it passes the NHI Bill next year.

It claims that the bill will result in public healthcare being “even more underfunded and patients dying en masse due to a lack of services available to them.”