BL Premium reports that Parliament’s ANC-dominated health committee is racing to complete its work on the contentious National Health Insurance (NHI) bill, seemingly intent on getting it through the National Assembly before the party’s elective conference in December.

After approval by the National Assembly, the bill will be submitted to the Council of Provinces for concurrence. The NHI has been on the ANC’s political agenda since 2007, and has featured prominently in its election promises ever since. If the bill is approved by MPs, Health Minister Joe Phaahla will be able to show delegates to the conference, which begins on 16 December, that the current administration is making progress towards implementing the policy. The bill is the government’s first piece of legislation for breathing life into its plan for universal health coverage, which aims to ensure everyone can obtain health services that are free at the point of delivery. Parliament’s portfolio committee on health has been considering the bill since August 2019, and is nearing the end of its work. Given that the ANC holds the majority of seats on the health committee and in the National Assembly, it is expected to drive through a version of the bill that differs little from the document tabled in 2019. Throughout its deliberations, the committee has remained sharply divided on party political lines. On Tuesday, opposition parties voiced their frustration with the committee’s processing of the bill, and reiterated their calls for Treasury and the Minister of Finance to provide them with details on how the NHI would be funded.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tamar Kahn at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

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