Opposition parties and medical groups have expressed their objections to the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill, with some threatening legal action.
Also read: President Cyril Ramaphosa to sign National Health Insurance Bill into law
These concerns arose soon after President Cyril Ramaphosa formally signed the NHI Bill into law on Wednesday at the Union Buildings.
DA leader John Steenhuisen described Ramaphosa’s move as ‘destructive’ prior to the elections, claiming it was motivated by fear of losing.
Steenhuisen promised that the DA would fight the bill all the way to the Constitutional Court.
‘Our legal team was briefed months ago and will file our legal challenge against this devastating legislation without delay.’
‘We have built up reams of correspondence, including with Ramaphosa himself, we will enter into evidence to show the process which led to the adoption of the bill by parliament disregarded public input, and the bill itself is flagrantly unconstitutional,’ he added.
According to the DA leader, the move is equivalent to increasing value-added tax (VAT) from 14% to 21.5%, resulting in a 31% increase in personal income taxes.
This, he claimed, entailed imposing an additional payroll tax of R1 500 per month on every working person, or a combination of the foregoing.
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Steenhuisen objected to the fact that the bill funds would be deposited in a central fund controlled by what he described as ‘one almighty ANC cadre.’
He said that meant empowering the health minister to be directly involved in the day-to-day management of ‘the biggest pile of taxpayer money that has ever been accumulated in South Africa’, which the DA was against.
According to the Department of Health (DoH), the National Health Insurance (NHI) is a fund that will be used by the government to purchase healthcare services for South Africans from commercial and public providers.
Following the signing ceremony, Health Minister Joe Phaahla told scores of reporters that the NHI was ‘doable’ and that the department would target low-hanging fruits to help fund the rollout (among other strategies). The rollout will be in phases.
Meanwhile, while presenting the bill, Ramaphosa stated that the real challenge in implementing the NHI was not a lack of funds but rather the current misallocation of resources, which disproportionately benefits the private health sector over public health needs.
‘The NHI is an opportunity to make a break with the inequality and inefficiency that has long characterised our approach to the health of the South African people. Let us work together, in a spirit of cooperation and solidarity, to make the NHI work.’
‘The NHI is an important instrument to tackle poverty. The rising cost of health care makes families poorer. By contrast, health care provided through the NHI frees up resources in poor families for other essential needs. The NHI will make health care in the country as a whole more affordable.’
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Watch: ‘We aren’t a reckless government,’ says Ramaphosa on NHI Bill
Picture: Frennie Shivambu / Gallo Images