The Institute of Race Relations has pressed home its opposition to the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme in a submission to MPs, warning that ‘with its high unemployment rate and small tax base, (South Africa) simply cannot afford the NHI proposal’.
The submission was made yesterday to the Select Committee on Health and Social Services in the National Council of Provinces, which is presently consider the NHI Bill.
Mlondi Mdluli, IRR Campaign Manager, says in a statement: ‘There are serious problems with the Bill itself and the public participation process was improper. In addition, no Socio-Economic Impact Assessment System (SEIAS) study has been done on the Bill.’
The statement points out that implementing the NHI Bill ‘will result in the nationalisation of South Africa’s excellent private healthcare system, meaning that the country’s 75 remaining medical schemes will be pushed out of operation.’
This will also lead to greater enforcement of failed BEE procurement rules to which every contract for health goods and services will be subject, says Mdluli.
Second, the demand for ‘free’ NHI services will be so enormous that all participating clinics, GPs, and other primary providers will inevitably have very long lists (or very long queues) of people waiting to see them. Third, people will have little choice as to the specialists or hospitals to which they are sent, and they will find themselves deprived of choice and entirely dependent on a state-controlled monopoly.
Lastly, Mdluli says, steep ‘NHI’ tax increases will be introduced, supposedly to fund the new system, but with only a portion of those additional revenues likely being used for the NHI.
‘The rest will be siphoned off to pay the public service wage bill or bail out bankrupt SOEs. Moreover, even if all the additional revenues collected were to be ring-fenced for NHI purposes, the NHI Fund would still lack the financial and human resources required to meet the scale of need.
‘South Africa, with its high unemployment rate and small tax base, simply cannot afford the NHI proposal. The NHI will also be so ineffective and corrupt that its failures will help drive out the skilled middle class that currently pays the great bulk of the country’s taxes. Many healthcare practitioners will emigrate too, rather than subject themselves to the state’s comprehensive controls and persistent inefficiencies. The capacity of the NHI will thus be limited from the start – and will inevitably decline over time as resources shrink.
‘The public is encouraged to support the IRR’s opposition to the NHI by adding their signature on the Institute’s NHI campaign page.”