South Africa's healthcare system is at a crossroads as it grapples with what has become a highly contentious National Health Insurance (NHI) plan. During a recent keynote at the Hospital Association of South Africa (HASA) conference, Netcare CEO Dr Richard Friedland, on behalf of HASA, presented viable and new term solutions, advocating for a middle road approach. The proposal seeks to bridge the divide between the public and private sectors, offering a more sustainable, affordable and inclusive solution to the nation’s healthcare dilemma. It draws inspiration from global examples of mandatory health coverage, where employees and employers share the responsibility of healthcare costs and thereby releasing public healthcare resources to focus on the most vulnerable in our society. Countries across Africa, LATAM, Asia and Europe have successfully implemented such models, ensuring improved access while maintaining economic stability. These systems demonstrate that mandatory contributions by formally employed can be effectively managed without placing undue stress on the economy. More importantly, this proposed middle road alternative was first tabled in 1994, at the dawn of the new South African democracy, as part of the ANC’s health plan. A few years later, in 1998, the Medical Schemes Act aimed to regulate private health insurance; a step towards greater inclusivity but fell short of completing the necessary regulatory reforms. The current NHI proposal is an evolution of these earlier efforts, yet its heavy reliance on a single public fund poses substantial risks and falls short of meeting its intended objective. Revisiting and refining these historical frameworks could provide valuable insights for developing a more balanced approach. #Netcare #Healthcare #HASA2024 #HealthTechnology #NHI
Brenda Knipe
1mo
Some valuable insights.. are his slides/ presentation available somewhere to read? Thank you
The proposal for a middle-road approach to South Africa's healthcare challenges is both timely and crucial. It's encouraging to see inspiration drawn from global models.
Great opportunity to do my practicals
Interesting eventj
Thanks for sharing
Great opportunity
Health Policy Analyst @ Council for Medical Schemes | Health Economics, Health Policy
1moThe Medical Schemes Act of 1998 was founded on equity, solidarity, and social justice, which entail universal access to social health protection through burden sharing, risk pooling, empowerment, and participation. Have Medical Schemes been implemented as such and regulated to achieve these objectives? Or have the operations of medical schemes over the past 24 years moved further away from these objectives, closer to the private health insurance of pre-1994? Does this mean that the implementers could not wholly comprehend the principles on which medical schemes were founded? As we move to NHI, will we get it right this time?