Business Unity South Africa (Busa) said that it was encouraged by President Ramaphosa’s commitment to ensure the National Health Insurance Act (NHI) is successful.
The organisation said that it was happy that Ramaphosa would be bringing stakeholders together to find a resolution with respect to the Health Insurance Act.
In his Opening of Parliament Address on Thursday, the president acknowledged both the public and private sectors have to play a pivotal role in meeting the health needs of all South Africans.
Cas Coovadia, Busa CEO said on Friday that 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,” Coovadia added.
“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.”
Coovadia argues that the Department of Health’s estimate it will need to raise R200 billion from taxes appears to be based on cost estimates that have not been updated since 2010.
He says that the NHI Act refers to this being raised from personal income taxes and payroll taxes which is unrealistic and has broad economic ramifications.
Coovadia also says that there are other substantive flaws in the NHI Act that will negatively impact South Africa’s fragile economy and impede investor confidence.
He finally called for the NHI Act to be amended in order to ensure that the country is able to deliver healthcare reform and advance universal health coverage without damaging the economy.
Will the NHI Act break the ANC/DA coalition?
Ramaphosa’s new Government of National Unity (GNU) will face a massive challenge when it comes to the NHI Act, given that the Democratic Alliance (DA) have been opposed to the Act.
When Ramaphosa signed the Act earlier this year, the DA accused the president of signing the “death warrant” of SA’s healthcare.
John Steenhuisen, the DA leader accused the president of wilfully plunging the country into a crisis and said that the signing of the Act was a sign of political desperation by the president.
Steenhuisen noted that the signing of the Act so close to the 2024 elections was a political tool to drum up support for the ANC.
Now that the two parties are in bed together it will be interesting or perhaps fascinating to see how they deal with the NHI Act.
IOL BUSINESS