Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize says the National Health Insurance (NHI) programme ‘will be run with the same efficiency and integrity’ as the Road Accident Fund (RAF) and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
This was contained in a statement released by the Department of Health this week, according to MedicalBrief, as published by BizNews.
The statement goes on to say that since entities established by Section 3(A) Public Finance Management Act have ‘set a precedent of good governance and accountability’, there is apparently every reason to believe that the funding mechanism proposed in the 2019 National Health Insurance Bill will follow suit.
Mkhize said: ‘The powers, privileges and consequence management set out in typical section 3A entities are no different to what is being proposed in the NHI Bill. There is a high index of confidence in section 3A entities as they have set a precedent of good governance and accountability.’
Critics of the NHI may well feel all the more vindicated by the comparison with the RAF, which is insolvent, and NSFAS, which has had huge administration problems.