NHI Bill Signed

    President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill into law, what does this mean for you?

    NHI Update

    The National Health Insurance Act was signed into law by the president on 15 May 2024.

    The NHI Act seeks to ensure access to universal healthcare for all South Africans. While this scheme supports this principal, the Act in its current format is not going to achieve this. Universal healthcare cannot be achieved by sacrificing the private healthcare sector.

    In order to execute NHI revenue is needed. Tax collections in real terms have decreased. There are constitutional and governance flaws in the NHI bill which are now going to be challenged in court as they have become law. As medical scheme members the clauses that state that only complementary and top up cover can be provided by schemes takes away the constitutional right of a person on how they choose to spend their after-tax money. The scheme belongs to the Board of Healthcare Funders which represents scheme members. BHF has submitted numerous well thought out legal arguments on NHI and are ready to support schemes through this period of uncertainty. Complementary cover has also not been properly defined in the Act. This determines what medical schemes will be allowed to cover when the Act is fully functional.

    As a member of this scheme know that we do not anticipate any short-term changes in the way we are conducting business. We will always advocate for the rights of our membership and support industry bodies that do this. The implementation of NHI is not expected to take place in its entirety for many years, even decades. Despite political statements that have been made that suggest medical services will be accessed free of charge, this is not going to happen in the immediate future. Many legal principles will still be fought in the courts. Your scheme will keep you updated on any changes that we anticipate.

    CMP Medical Aid will continue to offer its members access to quality healthcare.

    Join CMP today and let's take a journey to better healthcare, hand in hand.