Private hospital group Mediclinic has warned that the government’s proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) system will threaten public health in South Africa, and bring about the destruction of private healthcare and medical aid cover.
The NHI Bill is currently undergoing a public consultation process, with a number of healthcare, civil society and political groups presenting on why the new system should or should not be introduced.
The Bill as it stands will have a direct impact on access to healthcare services in South Africa. Mediclinic notes that there are insufficient resources to implement it; private-sector hospitals will be curtailed; and medical aids will be eroded.
The financial and human resources necessary to effectively implement the NHI scheme is a legitimate concern, Mediclinic said. It pointed out South Africa’s low doctor- and nurse-to-population ratios are low compared to peer countries.
“Everyone’s right of access to health care services would be threatened if the existing health care delivery system is uprooted and the NHI scheme envisaged in the Bill cannot be effectively implemented,” it said.
Private healthcare is an integral part of the healthcare system with everything from hospital beds to staff at risk if replaced by the NHI.
The Bill’s key components threaten the private hospital sector, with the contracting and reimbursement frameworks proposed in it unable to accommodate private hospital participation.
Additionally, the NHI Fund will create a monopoly by acting as the single purchaser of health care services in South Africa, capable of harming the competition and eroding private sector resources.
Medical scheme provider Discovery said that current private health care funding amounts to R212 billion, some 44% of the total healthcare spend. If the government were to finance this through direct taxation, this would equate to 4.1% of GDP, an unfeasible amount.
Mediclinic also warned that medical aid in South Africa would be significantly eroded under the NHI, meaning only the bare basics for South Africans needing medical care, and expensive treatments being unavailable. It gave the example of a patient with chronic renal failure receiving haemodialysis treatment currently covered by a medical scheme, and showed that the patient would be placed on a long waiting list for this life-saving treatment since it was covered (but not properly funded) by the NHI.
Source: BusinessTech
