Will medical aids change in the future?

The Department of Health has introduced the National Health Insurance Bill (NHI) to the community. They explained that the NHI is a financing system that will make sure that all South African citizens are provided with essential healthcare, regardless of their employment status and ability to make a direct monetary contribution to the NHI Fund.

Although the Bill does not outline how the NHI will be financed, it is known that the taxes paid by employers and workers, as well as personal income tax, will be increased.

According to The South African, the NHI fund will be compulsory for South Africans that can afford to pay and also for those who have medical aid. It was also stated that medical aids will become an auxiliary system to the NHI. Schemes may choose to reduce the services that they cover, different groups may merge while some schemes will shut down completely.

The fund will purchase healthcare services, medicines, health goods and health-related products for the public from service providers that are certified, accredited and contracted.

According to documents released, the purpose of the NHI is to be the main buyer and financier of certain healthcare services that will be available to all the citizens of this country. The plan is also described as being comprehensive but does not fully explain everything. However, the types of services that will be funded by the NHI could decide how much it will cost the taxpayer.

The main concern raised before the NHI was announced was the fact that the NHI will be another state-owned entity, bearing in mind how poorly Eskom, SAA, etc have been performing lately.

The Department of Health stated that the estimated time of implementation will be between 12 and 15 years from 2020.