The NHI Bill was introduced to Parliament in August 2019. It was passed by the National Assembly on 13 June 2023. It was passed by the National Council of Provinces on 06 December 2023.

You can track the processing of the Bill here

NHI Bill SEIAS

Report of the Portfolio Committee on Health on the NHI Bill

 

1. Access Committee meetings

 

2. Access Call for Comments 

 

3. Access Processing of the NHI Bill by Provincial Legislatures 

 

4. Access Health Justice Initiative NHI Library

 

 

5. Access Analysis on NHI by experts and stakeholders (SAMRC, CHAI, UCT, UWC)

According to the government, the NHI aims to achieve the following principles:

-The right to access health care: The NHI would ensure access to health care, as it was considered to be an important service which the State must be able to provide.

-Social Solidarity: The NHI would provide financial risk pooling to enable cross-subsidisation between young and old, rich and poor, as well as the healthy and the sick. This would mean people taking care of each other as South Africans. The solidarity principle would also serve as a guide towards the development of the NHI.

-Equity:  The NHI would ensure a fair and just health care system for all. Those who were ill should get services first.

-Health Care As A Public Good:  Health care should be seen as a social investment and not as a commodity of trade to be sold for profit.

-Affordability:  Health services should be procured at a reasonable cost. Should the cost be prohibitive, this could lead to the NHI not being able to offer health care to the whole country.

-Efficiency: Healthcare resources should be allocated and utilized to optimise value for money. The HLP had made it very clear that resources allocated to the NHI should be used appropriately.

-Effectiveness:  The health care interventions covered by the NHI would result in desired and expected outcomes in everyday settings. South Africans travelling through the country and in need of health care, would see that the same treatment one would receive in Dzidane would not be inferior to the treatment received in the Western Cape.

-Appropriateness:  Health care services would be delivered at appropriate levels of care through innovative service delivery models and would be tailored to local needs. Services should take into account the cultural and social requirements within a particular area.

Meanwhile, there are some concerns about how the NHI will be funded and implemented.

 

6. Access Public Hearings on the NHI Bill 

 

 

7. Access the Historical Timeline and past parliamentary meetings on the NHI

 

 

8. Access Parliament Media Statements on NHI Bill