Lawsuits threat hangs over NHI
THE country’s public and private health care system received a major shake-up when President Cyril Ramaphosa finally signed the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill into law.
This has resulted in an avalanche of criticism from the private sector as well as opposition political parties.
While receiving praise, mostly from labour and within the ANC, the medical sector and opposition political parties slammed Ramaphosa, with the DA and Afriforum indicating they would launch a class action lawsuit to stop NHI from being implemented.
During his address on Wednesday, Ramaphosa said NHI would ensure universal health coverage for the majority of South Africans who were unable to access quality health care due to the skewed two-tier health system, in which a publicly-funded sector that served 84% of the population was overburdened and run-down, while some people had access to better treatment through private insurance.
“This transformational health care initiative gives further effect to our constitutional commitment to progressively realise access to health care services for all its citizens,” Ramaphosa said. “At its essence, the NHI is a commitment to eradicate the stark inequalities that have long determined who receives adequate health care and who suffers from neglect.
“By putting in place a system that ensures equal access to health care regardless of a person’s social and economic circumstances, the NHI takes a bold stride towards a society where no individual must bear an untenable financial burden while seeking medical attention,” Ramaphosa said.
Speaking during a media briefing outside the Union Buildings while Ramaphosa was signing the bill into law, DA leader John Steenhuisen said the party would challenge the legislation in the Constitutional Court, as the process to adopt it was not inclusive and unconstitutional.
“Our legal team was briefed months ago already and will file our legal challenge against this devastating legislation without delay.
“We have built up reams of correspondence, including with Ramaphosa himself, that we will enter into evidence to show that the process which led to the adoption of this bill by Parliament disregarded public input, and that the [legislation] itself is flagrantly unconstitutional,” Steenhuisen said.
Steenhuisen also vowed to repeal NHI once the DA was elected to Parliament in the upcoming elections, adding that it would cost taxpayers over R200 billion to realise NHI.
“To give you an idea of how much extra tax this is, it would be equivalent to increasing VAT from 14% to 21.5%, increasing personal income tax by 31%, imposing an additional payroll tax of R1 500 per month on every working person – or a combination of all of the above,” he said.
Louis Boshoff of Afriforum said the civil rights group was preparing for a class action lawsuit against the government, Ramaphosa, Parliament and Health Minister Joe Phaahla for the damage that South Africans would suffer under the unaffordable policy.
“If the head of government is willing to ratify a new law, he is supposed to be well informed enough to defend his decision in public. Yet Ramaphosa is not up to it,” Boshoff said.
The South African Medical Association (Sama) said though it supported universal health coverage, it was opposed to NHI in its current form.
“The NHI [legislation], as it stands, fails to adequately address the critical socio-economic imbalances and inequalities of the past that continue to plague our health system and limit access for the majority of the population.
“While the intention behind the bill to transform SA’S healthcare system and ensure universal coverage for health services is commendable, the implementation strategy outlined lacks the necessary depth and practicality required to achieve meaningful and sustainable change,” Sama said.
In a statement, medical aid scheme giant Discovery, through its chief executive Adrian Gore, urged all its members to remain calm, saying medical scheme cover and benefits would not be affected by the new laws “for a long time to come”.
“We understand that President Ramaphosa’s signing of the NHI Act has caused anxiety. However, with full implementation a long way out and many matters still to be navigated, I urge you to focus on the facts. Rest assured that we will do the right thing for you, the healthcare system and for all South Africans,” he said.
The EFF described the NHI Act as misguided, disingenuous and opportunistic, saying it would not solve the health problems it sought to solve as the country’s healthcare system had completely collapsed.