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The objective of providing access to healthcare for all is clearly a noble one, but health department deputy director-general Nicholas Crisp doesn’t answer some critical questions to do with fatal flaws in the National Health Insurance (NHI) initiative (“Health department says NHI will deal with issues raised by market inquiry”, June 14).
Here are a few from me. How does a person approach the NHI for a health need? Do you need a diagnosis first, or do you just walk into a GP practice or hospital? And how does that exchange of services for money take place?
How will the charge for the service be rated and defined? At the moment most specialists are scoped out of medical aid rates and can charge what they like, as in any free market system. Is the intention of the NHI to eliminate that? Fees have to be market-related or everyone will leave for other health systems.
At the moment, private hospitals and health providers demand cash deposits upfront before admission, and the deposit is drawn down until it needs to be topped up. They will simply not operate on risk, especially if they fear you could die!
Does the NHI expect the private entities, many of which are incorporated into publicly listed companies, to adopt this new business model? As Discovery points out, to ban private medical cover is like banning private education and private security, and this is a breach of our constitutional rights. When will this be tested at the Constitutional Court?
What will happen to all the people employed by the medical aids and insurance industries? And if existing taxpayers are to finance this, will it be tax deductible? If so, people can ditch their medical aids (almost non-deductible) and self-funding (same) and just pay into the NHI. The question is, will this end up being the same as the Road Accident Fund?
If the ANC government keeps eliminating free market, capitalist businesses, its socialist policies will eventually destroy the country, not because socialism in its pure form can’t work ( I am not a fan) but because the ANC has corrupted it completely.
Andy Clay Via email
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: More questions about NHI
The objective of providing access to healthcare for all is clearly a noble one, but health department deputy director-general Nicholas Crisp doesn’t answer some critical questions to do with fatal flaws in the National Health Insurance (NHI) initiative (“Health department says NHI will deal with issues raised by market inquiry”, June 14).
Here are a few from me. How does a person approach the NHI for a health need? Do you need a diagnosis first, or do you just walk into a GP practice or hospital? And how does that exchange of services for money take place?
How will the charge for the service be rated and defined? At the moment most specialists are scoped out of medical aid rates and can charge what they like, as in any free market system. Is the intention of the NHI to eliminate that? Fees have to be market-related or everyone will leave for other health systems.
At the moment, private hospitals and health providers demand cash deposits upfront before admission, and the deposit is drawn down until it needs to be topped up. They will simply not operate on risk, especially if they fear you could die!
Does the NHI expect the private entities, many of which are incorporated into publicly listed companies, to adopt this new business model? As Discovery points out, to ban private medical cover is like banning private education and private security, and this is a breach of our constitutional rights. When will this be tested at the Constitutional Court?
What will happen to all the people employed by the medical aids and insurance industries? And if existing taxpayers are to finance this, will it be tax deductible? If so, people can ditch their medical aids (almost non-deductible) and self-funding (same) and just pay into the NHI. The question is, will this end up being the same as the Road Accident Fund?
If the ANC government keeps eliminating free market, capitalist businesses, its socialist policies will eventually destroy the country, not because socialism in its pure form can’t work ( I am not a fan) but because the ANC has corrupted it completely.
Andy Clay
Via email
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Health department says NHI will deal with issues raised by market inquiry
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