The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) has urged legislators to rein in the power given to the Health Minister in the National Health Insurance (NHI) over the future role of medical schemes.

According to a Business Day report, section 33 of the Bill says that when the Minister has determined that NHI has been fully implemented, medical schemes may offer only ‘complementary cover’ for services not provided under NHI.

The BHI has said these provisions offer no guidance on how the Minister determines when NHI is fully implemented, vesting too much power in one person’s hands and creating uncertainty for medical schemes and their members.

The Bill provides for establishment of a central NHI fund to purchase health services for SA citizens from accredited public and private providers, which will be free at point of delivery.

The NCOP called for public submissions on the Bill, and recently extended the deadline for written comment until 15 September.

In its submission to the NCOP, the BHF’s Rajesh Patel urged MPs to revise section 33 to include a set of criteria to be met before the Minister can declare the NHI fully implemented.

These include ensuring that at least 75% of the population has registered with the NHI fund, an assurance from the Minister of Finance that the fund can pay for health services for at least five years, and that at least 80% of SAs health facilities have been accredited.

’As it stands, section 33 allows the Minister to ‘spring the news on medical schemes with no advance warning that they may only provide complementary cover’, the BHF said in its submission.

‘Section 33 is thus contrary to the constitutional principle of administrative justice and allows the Minister to act arbitrarily,’ it said.

Full Business Day report