Poor people in rural areas will still suffer under NHI: 12 reactions to controversial health bill

The government’s plan to improve health care and enable those with no money to access private hospitals through national health insurance (NHI) will not mean much to those in rural areas.

This is the argument put forward by the EFF in rejecting the controversial bill. The party said poor infrastructure development in such regions and townships would see the poor failing to benefit from the scheme.

On Tuesday, parliament approved the contested NHI bill. Minister of health Joe Phaahla said its implementation would ensure South Africans without medical aid would have access to health facilities nearest to them, including private hospitals. 

The EFF said the move will not change the harsh reality for those in rural areas as public and private facilities are not within easy reach.

The DA called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to “do the right thing for once and not sign the disastrous NHI bill into law”.

“This will be a death sentence for many citizens and skilled medical practitioners will leave the country,” it warned.

While some have raised concerns that the bill will mark the end of medical aid schemes, Discovery Health CEO Dr Ryan Noach told Newzroom Afrika the company is not panicking about the bill. 

“There is a long way to go before there is any impact whatsoever on medical schemes, even in the event that the NHI bill is promulgated in its current form.

“As administrators of medical insurance plans, we do it for about four-million people and the NHI’s ambition is to do it for the whole country, the other 60-million people. It takes huge sophistication and many years to get it right. There is a long time before implementation is a reality. At this stage there is no need for panic.”   

Noach added that despite changes to regulations, no country had eradicated medical schemes. 

Meanwhile, rejecting the bill, the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) said the government had huge debt and funding the scheme would strain taxpayers.

“In 2019, then health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said annual costs were likely to exceed the combined total (R470bn) of public and private health spending that year.

“South Africa already has one of the highest tax burdens in the world, while its tax base is very small.

“The government is already having to spend a billion rand per day, every day, for the next three years to service its existing debt. It thus urgently needs to reduce state spending and cannot increase it in the way the NHI will require,” the institute said.   

Phaahla told parliament the scheme will be funded through taxes and “special” contributions from the government.

People on social media had mixed reaction to the bill, with some supportive of the NHI and others believing it will devastate private health care. 

Here are some reactions: 

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