IRR makes submission on unaffordable NHI Bill to NCOP

The Institute of Race Relations continues its fight against the implementation of the NHI Bill in a submission today to the Select Committee on Health and Social Services in the National Council of Provinces.

Mlondi Mdluli, IRR Campaign Manager, says: “There are serious problems with the Bill itself and the public participation process was improper. In addition, no Socio-Economic Impact Assessment System (SEIAS) study has been done on the Bill.”

The implementation of the NHI Bill will result in the nationalisation of South Africa’s excellent private healthcare system, meaning that the country’s 75 remaining medical schemes will be pushed out of operation. This will also lead to greater enforcement of failed BEE procurement rules to which every contract for health goods and services will be subject, says Mdluli.

Second, the demand for ‘free’ NHI services will be so enormous that all participating clinics, GPs, and other primary providers will inevitably have very long lists (or very long queues) of people waiting to see them. Third, people will have little choice as to the specialists or hospitals to which they are sent, and they will find themselves deprived of choice and entirely dependent on a state-controlled monopoly.

Lastly, Mdluli says, steep ‘NHI’ tax increases will be introduced, supposedly to fund the new system, but with only a portion of those additional revenues likely being used for the NHI. The rest will be siphoned off to pay the public service wage bill or bail out bankrupt SOEs. Moreover, even if all the additional revenues collected were to be ring-fenced for NHI purposes, the NHI Fund would still lack the financial and human resources required to meet the scale of need.

South Africa, with its high unemployment rate and small tax base, simply cannot afford the NHI proposal. The NHI will also be so ineffective and corrupt that its failures will help drive out the skilled middle class that currently pays the great bulk of the country’s taxes. Many healthcare practitioners will emigrate too, rather than subject themselves to the state’s comprehensive controls and persistent inefficiencies. The capacity of the NHI will thus be limited from the start – and will inevitably decline over time as resources shrink.

Mdluli adds: “A copy of the IRR’s full submission has been uploaded on our website. All South Africans are encouraged to support the IRR in opposing the NHI by adding their signature on our NHI campaign page.”

Media contacts: Mlondi Mdluli, IRR Campaign Manager Tel: 071 148 2971 Email: mlondi@irr.org.za

Marius Roodt, IRR Head of Campaigns Tel: 082 799 7035 Email: marius@irr.org.za

Media enquiries: Michael Morris Tel: 066 302 1968 Email: michael@irr.org.za

Sinalo Thuku, Tel: 073 932 8506 Email: sinalo@irr.org.za