Medical scheme members likely to lose their tax credits under NHI
The Health Minister says the first package of benefits will aid women, children and the elderly, with funds helping people ‘who are not on medical aid’
Medical scheme members are likely to lose their tax credits to help pay for the first set of benefits to be rolled out under National Health Insurance (NHI), Health Minister Aaron Motsolaedi said on Thursday. Briefing reporters on the government’s latest policy position on NHI, which will be published as a revised White Paper in the government gazette tomorrow, Motsolaedi said the first package of benefits would target women, children and the elderly: "The central philosophy is that we are going to start pooling funds for people who are not on medical aid, starting from the bottom." The government provided R20bn in tax credits to members of medical schemes in 2015, many of who were among the nation’s most wealthy citizens and least in need of government support, he said. Only 8.8-million people currently belong to medical schemes, out of a population of about 55.5-million, he said.
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