NHI: How is government going to solve the public-health puzzle?

The department of health finally has some sort of answer for where it will get the R256bn to fund National Health Insurance (NHI): from cutting staff in the department and slashing the number of medical schemes. This was the view put forward by health director-general Precious Matsoso at the Board of Healthcare Funders conference in Cape Town last month — essentially the annual gathering of the medical schemes that are supposed to fund the NHI. Matsoso said national treasury figures show some provinces are splashing out 70% of their (chunky) budgets on staff — and that’s before they even begin paying for delivery. "We trim and reduce the size of national departments so we can rescale and invest where it is needed most," she said. However, the exact figure needed to fund the NHI is not yet certain. Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi has gone back on the R256bn figure outlined in the NHI white and green papers, saying it is too "linear" and "relies on too many variables". He says the de...