The FF Plus submitted its minority report expressing its objections to the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill to Parliament this past Friday.
In May 2022, the FF Plus made it abundantly clear to Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Health that the party rejects the Bill in its entirety.
In the months that followed, various debates were held by the Committee while considering the Bill's respective clauses. The FF Plus voiced its opinion about the desirability of the Bill on these occasions as well.
The battle relating to the NHI Bill has been raging for three years since the former Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, tabled it in 2019.
Various processes have already taken place, like a public participation process which attracted 338 891 submissions from the public and role players in the medical industry.
The FF Plus's own report against the NHI, comprising 44 pages, emphasises the various dangers that the Bill poses if it were to be placed on the law book.
In the report, the party voices its concern about the registration process for accredited healthcare facilities, the implementation of electronic patient databases at state hospitals, the veil of uncertainty still hanging over the total cost of the NHI, and how exactly it will be financed.
Further questions address the uncertainty surrounding the role that medical schemes, private hospitals and private doctors will fulfil under the NHI, the impact that the NHI has already had on the economy and will still have, concerns raised by reports by the Auditor-General (AG) regarding the underspending of budgets, and the underutilisation of medical equipment.
The shortage of medicine, the challenges experienced with NHI pilot projects, and the danger that the NHI will also fail like many other public enterprises as a result of mismanagement, maladministration and corruption are also highlighted. The latter was clearly evident in the Digital Vibes scandal.
The FF Plus, furthermore, pointed out the current state of disrepair of infrastructure at hospitals and the shortcomings of the Office of Health Standards Compliance, which play a major part in the problem.
The shortage of doctors and nurses, the serious backlog in medical procedures, and the enormous amounts in claims for medical negligence are additional issues raised in the FF Plus's report.
The report also refers to the various hospitals about which the party received complaints from the public after it launched its campaign against the poor treatment of patients in state and provincial hospitals in June 2022.
The generally poor handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, the incompetence of government and the Department of Health resulting in the failure to properly care for patients during that time, and the corruption committed during that time also form part of the report.
The report makes it abundantly clear that the NHI is not the right way to provide healthcare to the people of South Africa. Instead, a plan for a healthcare system that accommodates both the private and public sector must be developed, and all medical professionals must work together to compile such a plan.
South Africa needs a system designed by medical professionals, not by ANC politicians or public officials. A system that will not destroy nor nationalise private healthcare for the sake of an already destroyed public healthcare system or ANC-driven decisions
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