BusinessLive reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa promised in his state of the nation address (Sona) on Thursday that the long-awaited National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill will soon be submitted to parliament.  

However, he did not state that the fiercely contested bill had been approved by Cabinet, which suggested that further work might still be done on it before it was considered by SA’s legislators.  “This year, we will take a significant step towards universal access to quality healthcare for all South Africans.  After extensive consultation, the NHI Bill will soon be ready for submission to Parliament,” Ramaphosa told MPs.  The bill is significant because it is the government's first piece of enabling legislation for NHI.  But, even if the bill is soon tabled in parliament, MPs will not have enough time to process it before the upcoming election in May, as it will have to be considered by both the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.  Both houses of parliament are expected to hold public hearings on the bill.

• Read Tamar Kahn’s report on the NHI Bill in full at BusinessLive

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