Business Unity South Africa (Busa) has maintained its position on the National Health Insurance (NHI), calling for an “urgent amendment“ to the NHI Act, which was promulgated on the eve of the May 29 elections, as it was ”unaffordable, unimplementable and unconstitutional“.
The business organisation yesterday said it was disappointed that despite commitments by the government to engage on the NHI Act, structured discussions had not yet taken place.
Busa CEO, Cas Coovadia, in a statement said it was only through formal, constructive engagement with the President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi and National Treasury, focused on collaboration rather than division, that they would all create a healthcare system that was equitable, effective and sustainable for generations to come.
“Busa remains ready to participate in meaningful dialogue with the government,” he said.
Coovadia also said Busa was deeply concerned about the inappropriate rhetoric directed at those who have raised legitimate concerns regarding the NHI Act, in its current form, as a suitable vehicle to deliver universal health coverage.
“Raising these concerns is not only appropriate, but in fact, the responsible and necessary course of action to ensure that the path that we choose as a country is both viable and sustainable,” he added
Busa added that it has never wavered from its genuine commitment to healthcare reform, and the country’s objective of achieving universal health coverage.
Coovadia said Busa’s primary objective, in conjunction with the government and other stakeholders, was to ensure that everyone in South Africa had access to quality healthcare, and that the inequalities across the healthcare system were addressed in a responsible and expedited manner.
“This is not only a social necessity but also essential to driving the economic growth our country so desperately needs,” he said.
“We have, on many occasions and across every legislative forum, made constructive proposals on how the country can do this without negatively impacting our economy, healthcare system and fiscal stability.
“We have also been extremely clear in our position that the NHI, as is envisioned in the Act, is unaffordable, unimplementable and unconstitutional, and therefore requires urgent amendment.”
At the signing ceremony for the second Presidential Health Compact last month, Deputy President Paul Mashatile, who was acting president on the day, said South Africa needed to ensure that the second Presidential Health Compact was responsive to the challenges facing the health system.
Mashatile said a well-functioning health system enabled them to make more efficient use of valuable resources - from human resources to medical supplies to technological and financial resources.
“This results in lower healthcare costs for individuals, families, communities and the government. However, our public healthcare system has many challenges. These challenges prevent the government from providing decent and quality healthcare to all South Africans,” Mashatile said then.
Reacting to the signing then, Busa had said it had consistently supported the goals of the Presidential Health Compact since its inception in 2018 as they were based on the need for the public and private healthcare sectors to work collaboratively to improve the overall health system, focusing on urgent projects related to health infrastructure, human resource planning, management capacity building, medico-legal risk management, and health IT system interoperability, amongst others.
It added that it remained committed to these projects and objectives.
However, Busa had not signed the current new version of the Presidential Health Compact citing that it had been unilaterally amended by the government, transforming its original intent and objectives into an explicit pledge of support for the NHI Act. It said the changes to the Health Compact were made without consultation.
BUSINESS REPORT