Fin24 reports that contrary to a report carried in Rapport and City Press on Sunday, Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi has denied that the ANC has shifted its stance on the National Health Insurance (NHI).
The report stated that the ANC would be tabling a proposal that all employees be obliged to join a medical aid scheme, which would reduce the costs of health insurance as well as the burden on the public health system. The NHI would compete with the private sector to offer cheaper options, the report claimed. This, in part, would reflect a proposal made by the Hospital Association of SA last year that medical schemes be made compulsory for employees. Currently, the NHI is a health financing model which would, through a combination of taxes on employees, raise a pool of money to purchase health services on behalf of the population. The NHI Act, which was signed into law shortly before the May election but has not yet been enacted, envisages that as the NHI develops over time, medical aid schemes would not be allowed to reimburse members for services they could have obtained on the NHI, so they would steadily become financially unviable and would fizzle out. Motsoaledi has strongly championed this "all or nothing" approach. In his statement on Monday, he said that the news article was "unfounded and ridiculous". "There is no such plan from either the ANC or the government. Any insinuation thereto is the figment of the imagination of either the author of the article or his unknown sources," he said.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carol Paton at Fin24 (subscription or trial registration required)
- Read too, Health Minister dismisses 'ridiculous' report regarding ANC compromising on NHI, at IOL News
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page