Opinion Looming NHI disaster would dwarf Eskom The only way to fix the public health system is to introduce competent management at all levels. This would mean getting rid of entrenched union members BL PREMIUM

As much as the country is currently focused on the crisis in Eskom, the nation seems to have lost sight of the looming National Health Insurance (NHI) fund, which will be twice the size of the failing power utility in financial terms. The state of the nation address and recent launch of the presidential health summit report has only added to the uncertainty surrounding the NHI model and is still failing to address pragmatic issues surrounding the funding of the behemoth, such as what it will cost and how the state will render services within the NHI context. President Cyril Ramaphosa said in the address that “by introducing the NHI, together with a multipronged quality improvement programme for public health facilities, we are working towards a massive change in the health-care experience of South Africans.” At the presidential summit launch, health minister Aaron Motsoaledi expanded on that, saying this “war room” would bring together key departments to address the crisis in the pu...