South Africa’s new national health insurance scheme is controversial

“To our professionals and healthcare workers—don’t listen to the doomsayers.” It was a soundbite that might sound curious coming from a health minister marking the first steps towards universal health coverage.The new National Health Insurance (NHI) mechanism is lauded by the South African government as a move towards fixing an unequal, strained health system. When the country became a democracy in 1994 it enshrined the right to access healthcare in its constitution, but this has not always been realised. As a move in this direction, the government signed the NHI into law in May 2024, right before a pivotal national election that saw the incumbent party lose its majority.The NHI has been in motion for 13 years. First proposed in 2011, it means that most healthcare services in the country will be financed through a state run fund at set tariffs. This will apply to primary healthcare, hospital services, palliative…
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