NEHAWU CONDEMNS THE SCAREMONGERING TACTICS BY ECONEX
NEHAWU is outraged at the publication of yet another guesstimate exercise purporting to be a credible study on the costs of the National Health Insurance (NHI) in the Business Report (15 February 2010). This time it is the Econex, an institute based at Stellenbosch University, which was commissioned by the Hospital Association of South Africa (HASA), hardly a reassuring indication of objectivity (see here).
Wild and unfounded claims on the supposed costs of the NHI are made in the report, including the usual claims about the possible tax implications, a ploy intended to scare off the taxpayers for ulterior motives of those who currently take the largest share of our country's health budget to service their selfish interests as opposed to improving health care to a large majority of our people.
During an interview on Radio 702, Econex has admitted that the basis of their estimate is to say the least dubious. The Econex economist Marine Erasmus confirmed to interviewer Chris Gibbons that their estimate of an "extra R244 billion a year" was based on only 2 leaked documents and one public document from ANC today.
She has in the same interview confessed that she has absolutely no idea of what the detail is. However, the report acknowledges that the researchers based their costing of the comprehensive cover on the current private healthcare costs believing that there would be a greater shift towards the use of private health care.
NEHAWU rejects this assumption as private health care is not available to people living in remote areas and in any case the NHI is not going to be based on the current private health costs which are distorted by profiteering and inefficiencies. In addition, the Minister has announced the resourcing and implementation of a 10-point plan to transform the health sector so that access to health care will be available no matter where people live.
The article in Business Report further states that the Econex research indicates that the additional revenue would amount to a 33% to 37% increase on total tax revenues. However in the 702 interview, Erasmus stated that it would be "difficult to say how much additional income tax would be required given the little detail we have at the moment".
Econex makes a further assertion that social health insurance, where only employed people would be covered, might be the best option as an interim step towards a full NHI. NEHAWU rejects this as it would once again remove the focus of health delivery from workers and the poor and this is not in line with the Constitutional injunction which expects government to ensure access to health care to all.
Distortions and misrepresentations about a people's health are not only un-ethical and irresponsible but they are also a health hazard as their poisonous effects can penetrate the minds of the policy makers and implementers.
NEHAWU challenges Econex to clarify the basis of their calculations and to inform the public as to who sponsors this research. Until the final policy document has been confirmed by Cabinet and released for public comment by the Minister of Health, the assertions from Econex and similar institutes remain guesswork.
Statement issued by Sizwe Pamla, NEHAWU media liaison officer, February 16 2010
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