It is clear from the recently concluded public hearings on the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill that the people of the Free State are generally unhappy with the condition of and services provided by provincial clinics and hospitals.
The long waiting times at clinics, and the availability of medication and ambulances in the province are just some of the problems raised by residents which will not be addressed by the NHI as a state-controlled fund.
The fund will simply be a centralised financing model which will only pay for services rendered to patients.
The Bill is currently being considered in the Free State, after which the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) will vote on the NHI.
During the public hearings, the Free State Department of Health admitted that only three of the 22 state hospitals in the province have the status required to allow them to operate as NHI-accredited hospitals.
The onus remains on the Department, and not the proposed NHI, to improve healthcare at hospitals and clinics.
The MEC for Health in the Free State, Ms Mathabho Leeto, also admitted in her budget vote debate this year that the province needs 152 ambulances to meet the needs of Free State patients.
The FF Plus in the Free State will lodge its objections to the dangerous Bill in the relevant Portfolio Committee as it will only burden taxpayers even further while offering fewer services.
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