The Hospital Association of SA on Thursday welcomed government's initiative to establish a National Health Insurance (NHI) system to provide health care cover for all South Africans. This proposal was put to Cabinet on Wednesday by Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. "The private hospital sector fully supports the concept of a National Health Insurance," said HASA board member Biren Valodia in a statement."We believe that universal health cover for all South Africans, if properly designed and implemented, is one of the measures that can help increase affordability and access to health care in this country." Valodia attended the Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) annual conference in Durban this week, where the NHI proposal was discussed and supported. He said the private hospital sector had a positive contribution to make, and looked forward to engaging the government and other health care stakeholders in this process.
However, Valodia reiterated the association's opposition to a draft legislation imposing a process of price regulation on the private health-care sector. He said HASA had not changed their view that the process set out in the draft National Health Amendment Bill amounted to price regulation and that the legislation be withdrawn. "The bill would result in the National Health Reference Price List, currently a recommended price guide, becoming the mandatory default price in the event that negotiations between hospitals and funders reach a stalemate. This is price regulation." The private hospital sector remained disappointed at the level of consultation and negotiation over the draft health legislation,
news source : http://www.int.iol.co.za/
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