‘NHI won’t be another Eskom’

National Health Insurance (NHI) will be rolled out in a manner that is affordable and will not pose the kinds of risks to the economy that stateowned electricity generator Eskom has done, health minister Zweli Mkhize said on Monday.

Eskom posted a net aftertax loss of R21bn for the year to March 31 and its debt stands at R440bn.

“It is a fallacy to postulate that the NHI will bankrupt the country.

“This will be an entity in terms of schedule 3 of the PFMA [Public Finance Management Act] which means, unlike an entity like Eskom, it will not have the power to take risks and engage in raising debts and other speculative financial transactions.

“The entity will receive funds from the fiscus and apply the funds to the defined mandate,” Mkhize said at the annual Hospital Association of Southern Africa conference in Cape Town this week.

However, chapter 6 of the PFMA says schedule 3 entities may borrow under strict conditions, including obtaining the finance minister’s permission.

Mkhize said there was sufficient money in the budget for implementing NHI over the next five years, but said it faced a potential funding shortfall of R30bn by 2026.

“There has been continuous consultation with the National Treasury on the financial implications of the rollout of the NHI,” he said.

Mkhize said the NHI fund would be protected from corruption.

“Strict accountability shall be enforced and a strong anticorruption team will be in place to prevent the risk of corruption,” he said.