The Department of Health published the long-awaited National Health Insurance Bill on Thursday (8 August).<\/p>\n
The bill promises universal health coverage for all South Africans and is set to bring big changes to the country’s health industry – including how South Africans pay<\/a> <\/strong>for health coverage and a changed role for medical aids<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n One industry which is also likely to see a major shake-up is private hospitals.<\/p>\n The bill states that all South Africans covered under the bill must register as a user with the NHI fund at an accredited health care service provider or health establishment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Whenever users need to access healthcare, they will first need to visit this primary facility<\/strong>. This facility may then refer the user to a specialist or another facility.<\/p>\n The bill states that if these ‘referral pathways’ are not followed, users will not be covered by the NHI fund<\/strong> and will have to pay out of pocket or make use of a medical aid<\/strong>.<\/p>\n While the NHI bill does not specify if ‘accredited health care service providers’ will be limited to public hospitals, it does set out a minimum set of requirements that need to be followed before a hospital is given accreditation.<\/p>\n These requirements include:<\/p>\n Also, as previously covered, medical aids will also be prevented from covering services that will be covered under the NHI<\/a><\/strong>, limiting options for those seeking private healthcare.<\/p>\n Impact on industry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n