By Rachel Mohamed
The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) has once more challenged the National Health Insurance Act (NHI) by filing a legal complaint at the constitutional court. The organisation claims that Parliament failed to ensure adequate public participation and that the Act, in its current form, jeopardises South Africa’s long-term healthcare delivery.
Speaking to VOC News, Managing Director of the Board of Healthcare Funders, Dr Katlego Mothudi, stated that the legal strategy aims to examine the processes and emphasises that all those involved in the crafting of the law should be engaged.
“This particular challenge examines the role of parliament and how it was intended to enable a law that is workable and implementable. “But we discovered that there were enormous challenges,” states Mothudi.
Mothudi furthers that a concern for his organisation is that the health sector, which already struggles with present healthcare issues, would be further strained by the logistics the NHI Act demands.
“There are several issues to consider. Section 23 and other provisions of the Act propose that once the fund is fully established, medical aids will no longer be permitted to provide similar services. We believe this will place an additional strain on the already overburdened public health system,” argued Mothudi.
Listen to the full interview:
VOC News
Photo: Pixabay
