Western Cape will participate in National Health Insurance Pilot
14 Mar 2012
Western Cape Health Minister Theuns Botha says that although the Western Cape does not support the National Health Insurance (NHI) green paper in its current format, it does not mean that the province will not participate in the NHI pilot projects.
"There is a rumour doing the rounds that the Western Cape has declined to participate in the NHI pilot. This is not true. My office has not received any correspondence from the national minister's office in this regard, and has certainly not declined to participate."
Research in the Western Cape shows that the NHI will work against its stated objective to provide improved quality health services. In fact, it appears the NHI will create a bureaucratic and inefficient healthcare superstructure that will diminish the quality of public healthcare.
Western Cape Government did extensive research and consulted with economists and professionals before we submitted a comprehensive reply to the NHI green paper. In our reply, we point out the following reasons why the NHI will not improve the quality of healthcare to the poor.