He noted that increasing taxes is currently the only way to get the additional R200 billion that the Department of Health said is needed for the system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This would require potentially raising VAT from 15% to 21.5% and increasing personal income taxes by 30% or more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, these tax raises will only take South Africa’s average healthcare spend per person from R465 to around R680 per month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Now the medical scheme members – or the employed sector – who are funding that (the tax increases) spend about R2,400 per person per month,” Gore said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“So, what you would see happening if you did that, you’d raise taxes for employed people by 30%, and you’d lower their healthcare by 70%. You’d go from R2,400 per month to R680 per month.<\/strong>” <\/p>\n\n\n Not all bad <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Gore, like other members of the medical community, still believes that universal healthcare envisioned by the NHI could work – as long as the private sector is involved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He said that many other countries – including the US, Australia, the UK and more – have an effective blend of private and public healthcare systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Gore is not yet sure how the NHI would work, he said that collaboration between the private and public sectors could find solutions to make it function- much like their collaboration during the vaccine rollout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Moreover, the CEO is hopeful that low-cost benefit options currently with the Council for Medical Schemes get approved – as this would allow millions more to access private healthcare and take some of the burden off the state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With the NHI also a decade or two away from being implemented, he hopes that this forms part of the tapestry of the NHI – and not a threat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “I think healthcare is so complex – so anything that works, you need to do more of, and take the burden off things that don’t work,” he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Read<\/strong>: Eskom expands big plan to cut load shedding in residential areas<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Adrian-Gore.jpg\")
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