There Are Paths to Quality Universal Healthcare Besides NHI SpotlightNSP: SouthAfrica
One of the most damaging aspects of our public discourse on National Health Insurance is the mistaken notion in some quarters that the only two options are NHI and the status quo.One of the most damaging aspects of our public discourse on National Health Insurance is the mistaken notion that the only two options are NHI and the status quo. Often implicitly, sometimes explicitly, defenders of NHI suggest that any argument against NHI is one for maintaining the current system.
For example, NHI will be a single-payer system, which is to say, the NHI fund will be responsible for almost all purchasing of healthcare services in the country. In some respects, Canada has a similar system, except that rather than one system for the whole country, they in effect have 13 single-payer systems for each of their provinces and territories.
This was particularly apparent in the way some members of the Portfolio Committee on Health continuously pushed people on whether they are for or against NHI, rather than engaging with the substance of people's submissions.