● By the end of October, Business Unity SA (Busa) — the country’s largest federation of business organisations — will submit a proposal to the president with solutions to their problems with the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act.
● Busa refused to sign the country’s second presidential health compact in August, because it required signatories to explicitly support the NHI in its current form.
● That means Busa, which was on the steering committee of the presidential health summit — held in 2023 — after which the compact document followed in 2024, won’t take part in any of the compact’s activities to better the health system.
● In mid-September Busa met the president, health and deputy health ministers to discuss its concerns. Busa supports expanding South Africans’ access to private medical aids rather than the banning of private schemes in their current form, as the NHI Act stipulates.
● Is there hope for change? In this podcast, Mia Malan asks Olive Shisana, the president’s special adviser on social policy, who also co-ordinated the compact, and Busa’s CEO, Cas Coovadia, what to expect.
BHEKISISA | Is there hope for changes to the NHI Act?
● By the end of October, Business Unity SA (Busa) — the country’s largest federation of business organisations — will submit a proposal to the president with solutions to their problems with the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act.
● Busa refused to sign the country’s second presidential health compact in August, because it required signatories to explicitly support the NHI in its current form.
● That means Busa, which was on the steering committee of the presidential health summit — held in 2023 — after which the compact document followed in 2024, won’t take part in any of the compact’s activities to better the health system.
● In mid-September Busa met the president, health and deputy health ministers to discuss its concerns. Busa supports expanding South Africans’ access to private medical aids rather than the banning of private schemes in their current form, as the NHI Act stipulates.
● Is there hope for change? In this podcast, Mia Malan asks Olive Shisana, the president’s special adviser on social policy, who also co-ordinated the compact, and Busa’s CEO, Cas Coovadia, what to expect.
This story was produced by the Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism. Sign up for the newsletter.
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