The firm explained that the idea of reducing support for medical aid members is not new. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn Budget 2018, it was announced that increases in medical tax credits would be kept below inflation for the next three years to fund the rollout of the NHI,\u201d it said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, Budget 2025 did not provide for an increase in medical tax credits in 2025\/26 as part of the measures to raise additional tax revenues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, proposals went further in 2025 when the Department of Health suggested removing the credits entirely for higher-income earners to help finance the new healthcare system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PwC said this is unlikely to happen soon. \u201cThe Minister of Finance has come out against such a proposal, and we do not expect that there will be any move to remove medical tax credits in the medium term,\u201d it said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is expected that Budget 2026 will see medical tax credits being increased in line with inflation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is welcome news after the Standing Committee on Appropriations heard a funding proposal that included phasing out the tax rebate over 15 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deputy Director-General of Health Nicholas Crisp indicated that discussions were taking place with the National Treasury to redirect the savings into the NHI fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite this, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana publicly pushed back and stressed the economic risks of removing the relief. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe people who are currently receiving medical tax credits are the bulk of those contributing to personal income tax. Removing the tax credit will effectively be an attack on the middle class,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Need for medical aids is not going anywhere <\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Enoch-Godongwana-NHI-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nGodongwana warned that eliminating the credits would punish households already under financial strain and could weaken the country\u2019s tax base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are doing some work internally and between the government departments to look at particular options, but no decisions have been made as yet,\u201d the Treasury added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Healthcare experts have highlighted that this uncertainty shows how far South Africa still is from fully implementing the NHI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Legal challenges, administrative complexity and massive funding requirements continue to delay the scheme\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tiago de Carvalho, CEO of Ambledown Financial Services, previously said consumers should not assume the NHI will replace private healthcare anytime soon. He urged South Africant to keep their cover in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Estimates suggest the NHI could cost between R300 billion and R460 billion annually, while the country already faces debt levels above 75% of GDP, weak growth and a shrinking tax base. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven the most modest phase of implementation requires financial discipline and growth\u2014 neither of which currently characterises the South African economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf the first step is unfunded, the rest of the plan becomes meaningless,\u201d de Carvalho said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because of these constraints, he believes South Africa will ultimately operate a hybrid system rather than a single national insurer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is unlikely that the NHI will replace private healthcare,\u201d he said, adding that medical schemes and gap cover will remain essential protection against high medical costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South Africans who rely on medical aid are likely to receive a welcome boost in the upcoming national Budget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":820284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11121],"tags":[24780,10068,2407,853,2887],"class_list":["post-851307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-budget-speech-2026","tag-medical-aid","tag-pwc","tag-south-africa","tag-tax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851307"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":851347,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851307\/revisions\/851347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/820284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nGodongwana warned that eliminating the credits would punish households already under financial strain and could weaken the country\u2019s tax base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are doing some work internally and between the government departments to look at particular options, but no decisions have been made as yet,\u201d the Treasury added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Healthcare experts have highlighted that this uncertainty shows how far South Africa still is from fully implementing the NHI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Legal challenges, administrative complexity and massive funding requirements continue to delay the scheme\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tiago de Carvalho, CEO of Ambledown Financial Services, previously said consumers should not assume the NHI will replace private healthcare anytime soon. He urged South Africant to keep their cover in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Estimates suggest the NHI could cost between R300 billion and R460 billion annually, while the country already faces debt levels above 75% of GDP, weak growth and a shrinking tax base. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven the most modest phase of implementation requires financial discipline and growth\u2014 neither of which currently characterises the South African economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf the first step is unfunded, the rest of the plan becomes meaningless,\u201d de Carvalho said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because of these constraints, he believes South Africa will ultimately operate a hybrid system rather than a single national insurer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is unlikely that the NHI will replace private healthcare,\u201d he said, adding that medical schemes and gap cover will remain essential protection against high medical costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South Africans who rely on medical aid are likely to receive a welcome boost in the upcoming national Budget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":820284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11121],"tags":[24780,10068,2407,853,2887],"class_list":["post-851307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-budget-speech-2026","tag-medical-aid","tag-pwc","tag-south-africa","tag-tax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851307"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":851347,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851307\/revisions\/851347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/820284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}