Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize says that there will be no difference between public and private hospitals once South Africa introduces its new National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme.<\/p>\n
“We are starting a new decade in which we will be instituting decisive actions in (the) implementation of NHI,” he said in a statement<\/a> <\/strong>on Wednesday (1 January).<\/p>\n “When it is fully implemented, there will be no distinction between public and private hospitals. We believe we are going to be seeing changes and improvements in quality.”<\/p>\n The Portfolio Committee on Health embarked on a public participation process involving written submissions and public hearings around the new National Health Insurance Bill towards the end of 2019.<\/p>\n The bill promises universal health coverage to every South African, but will also act as a form of \u2018compulsory insurance\u2019 as the NHI Fund acts as a single purchaser and single-payer of healthcare services in South Africa.<\/p>\n Under current legislation, a medical scheme member generally chooses the doctor, hospital and specialist and the medical scheme refunds that expense to the member, or for convenience directly to the provider of the service.<\/p>\n Under NHI, the fund purchases the health care service \u201con behalf of the user\u201d (mainly South African citizens and permanent residents) at accredited healthcare providers free of charge at point of care.<\/p>\n While the NHI is only expected to be introduced in several years time, government and regulators have already begun making major\u00a0changes<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>in preparation for the new system.<\/p>\n Public vs private<\/strong><\/p>\n Mkhize has previously said that his department is working on a number of plans to ensure that the required skills are in place for the successful implementation of the NHI.<\/p>\n In an October interview<\/a><\/strong>, he said that this will include training up new doctors and incentivising doctors currently in the private sector.<\/p>\n \u201cYou actually just train the people and get the people with the necessary skills. The skills are not only locked in the private sector,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Critics of the NHI plan have previously highlighted the flight of medical skills as a major risk to the scheme, with some surveys showing that\u00a043% of respondents<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in the medical field would consider leaving the country when the scheme is implemented.<\/p>\n