We all want to see better healthcare for all, but will NHI policies deliver?
THE debate about National Health Insurance (NHI) has become increasingly angry and shrill. More’s the pity. Describing criticism of NHI as "scaremongering" obscures the facts and basic economics, and you don’t need to be an economist to understand that "there’s no such thing as a free lunch".You don’t get something for nothing and the idea of "free healthcare for all" will, we can predict with a high degree of confidence, end up costing the country, especially the poor, dearly.How do we know this? Because examples from history and from countless other countries tell us so. Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi cited the so-called US "Obamacare" healthcare law as justification for NHI. This was an unfortunate example to raise, as evidence continues to emerge that US consumers now face higher premiums and reduced choices, even though US President Barack Obama promised the exact opposite.Laws should be judged not by their intentions, but by their outcomes. We all want good things for the po...
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