FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
09 December 2019

 

SAMA NHI Submission to Parliament

On 29 November, SAMA made our final submission on the 2019 NHI Bill to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health.

SAMA has been in support of the principles of Universal Health Coverage and quality care for all within the South African healthcare system since the beginnings of the health reform debates.

However, SAMA has not been able to support the 2019 NHI Bill in its current format. Many aspects of the Bill require clarification before it is signed into law.

In 2018, in response to the 2018 Draft NHI Bill, SAMA raised many concerns and queries about unclear aspects of the Bill, and objected to many aspects proposed to be written into law. Examples include contracting and payment mechanisms which have never been implemented in the country before, as well as missing detail on quality of care expectations. There are also concerns about the amount of power which the Bill hands to the Minister of Health.

SAMA ran a membership survey in November 2019 to gauge the feelings of our membership in relation to the Bill and the NHI proposals. We received over 1000 responses in the short two-week period in which the survey was open. SAMA membership do not think that a single fund is the only answer to securing Universal health Coverage for the population, and the membership is generally concerned about the lack of detail in contracting mechanisms, accreditation procedures and quality of care in general. The written responses indicate a deep mistrust of the Government structures in general and the ability of the Department of Health to implement their plans in realising coverage for all.

Membership agreed that the proposals for payment arrangements in the Bill are premature, and untested in the South African environment. Overall the Department of Health should pursue quality and finance improvement initiatives already proposed for the public and private sector before fundamentally changing the healthcare delivery system in the country.

We believe this position and the objections we have will go a long way to ensuring careful consideration of proposals for financing reform in the health sector going forward.

Notes to Editors
About SAMA
The South African Medical Association was formally constituted on 21 May 1998 as a unification of a variety of doctors’ groups that had represented a diversity of interests. SAMA is a non-statutory, professional association for public, and private sector medical practitioners. SAMA is a voluntary membership association, existing to serve the best interests and needs of its members in any and all healthcare related matter

Contact:
Head of PR & Communications
Dr Simonia Magardie
082 905 8505
Email: simoniam@samedical.org

Spokesperson
Chairperson: SAMA
Dr A Coetzee
082 379 8118
Email: dr.coetzee@worldonline.co.za

Spokesperson 2
Vice-Chairperson: SAMA
Dr M Mzukwa
076 382 8152
Email: mzukwam@gmail.com