Busa encouraged by Ramaphosa’s commitment to find consensus on NHI

22 Jul 2024

Busa is encouraged by President Ramaphosa’s commitment to bring stakeholders together to find agreement in respect of the National Health Insurance Act, as well as his acknowledgement that the resources and capabilities of both the public- and private sectors are necessary to meet the healthcare needs of all South Africans equitably.

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In response to the president's comments during his opening of parliament address, Cas Coovadia, Business Unity South Africa (Busa) chief executive officer notes:

The NHI Act in its current form is unaffordable, unsustainable and creates material risk for the country and taxpayers.

We believe a collaborative approach is crucial in advancing our nation’s healthcare objectives, and our collective vision for universal health coverage in particular. We look forward to engaging with the government on the NHI and other health-related matters, and will be urgently seeking a meeting with the minister of health.

The department’s estimate that it would need to raise R200bn from taxes appears to be based on cost estimates that have not been updated since 2010.

The Act refers to this being raised from personal-income taxes and payroll taxes which is unrealistic and has broad economic ramifications. In addition, there are other substantive flaws in the Act that will negatively impact our fragile economy, impede investor confidence, not only in the healthcare sector but more broadly, and which raise serious governance risks.

It is clear that the NHI Act needs to be amended to ensure that the country is able to deliver healthcare reform and advance universal health coverage without damaging the economy and the existing skills, innovation, resources and experience that reside in the private healthcare sector. The country should be leveraging these resources to help design and support a system that is fit for purpose and that is able to benefit future generations.

Coovadia adds: We have demonstrated the power of partnership both during Covid, and currently, as government and the private sectors work together to address the challenges in energy, transport and logistics, and crime and corruption. The same is possible in our healthcare sector, and we are committed to constructive engagement with government in this regard.