Cape Town — Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, has dismissed reports suggesting that the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill will cost the government up to R1.3 trillion annually.
This comes amid ongoing debates about the affordability and sustainability of the NHI, which was signed it into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa in May and hailed as a critical step towards providing universal healthcare for all South Africans.
Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Motsoaledi firmly defended the NHI, saying that quality healthcare does not have to be synonymous with high costs.
He criticised estimates by Momentum Health Solutions, which claimed that the NHI would require R1.3 trillion per year to deliver the same standard of care currently available in the private sector.
“You are aware that R1.3 trillion is the total budget of the government. Now the publication of this number is disingenuous and deliberately circulated to anger the public because it would sound crazy for the state to finance this health system,” EWN quoted him as saying.
Better sharing of funds will be the cure-all for our ailing health system, says @HealthZA’s Aaron Motsoaledi, who’s forging ahead with #NHI. More in August’s #HealthBeat. https://t.co/dQTtGeXsR0 pic.twitter.com/UjxXZ2jszt
— Bhekisisa (@Bhekisisa_MG) September 4, 2024
The minister’s remarks were in response to questions posed by the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) shadow minister of health, Michele Clarke, who challenged the feasibility of the NHI’s funding model.
Clarke questioned how the government intended to finance the ambitious program without placing an undue burden on taxpayers.
Motsoaledi dismissed these concerns, describing the calculations by Momentum Health Solutions as “mathematical trickery” designed to undermine public confidence in the NHI.
He said that the NHI had never proposed providing private-sector level care universally, but rather ensuring that all health facilities, both public and private, are accessible to South Africans based on their healthcare needs, The Citizen reported.
“What the NHI proposes is that all health facilities, public and private have to be accessible to all South Africans if and when their health needs demand it,” he said.
Motsoaledi further criticised Momentum as an “interested party” profiting from the existing healthcare system, implying that their cost estimates were biased.
He also addressed Clarke’s inquiries about the uniformity of care quality under the NHI, reiterating that quality healthcare does not equate to expensive care.
He said that everyone would receive quality healthcare and that quality did not necessarily mean expensive. He gave the example that a patient could pay R1 800 for circumcision at a public hospital but R15 000 at a private hospital, and that difference was the problem.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
