National Health Insurance in South Africa
Stakeholder Perspectives on NHI
Download full PDF Document
Shisana, O., Rehle, T., Louw, J., Zungu-Dirwayi, N., Dana, P., & Rispel, L. (2006). Public perceptions on national health insurance: moving towards universal health coverage in South Africa. S Afr Med J, 96(9), 814-818. URL: http://blues.sabinet.co.za/WebZ/Authorize?sessionid=0:autho=pubmed:password=pubmed2004&/AdvancedQuery?&format=F&next=images/ejour/m_samj/m_samj_v96_n9_a14.pdf
“This paper reports on the findings of a national probability household sample of the South African population, drawn as part of the 2005 HIV/AIDS national survey, to gauge public opinion on universal health care coverage.” “The majority support efforts to contain medicine costs and one-third are of the opinion that the country can provide everyone with all the needed health care and medical services. A large percentage of participants thought it more important to provide improved health care coverage even if it meant raising taxes, while a small percentage said it is better to hold down taxes despite lack of access to health care for some South Africans. Almost a quarter of participants were unable to comment on questions posed to them, indicating the need for improved public education and communication.”
COSATU/NEHAWU (2003) Submission to the Public Hearings on the Report of the Committee of Enquiry into Comprehensive Social Security System. Submitted to the Portfolio Committee on Social Development 09/10 June 2003. Available on http://www.cosatu.org.za
Slides on the COSATU position of July 2008 as presented to the Board of Healthcare Funders on 12 November 2008.
http://www.bhfglobal.com/bhf-policy-conference-12-november-2008
The perceptions of employers were canvassed by Old Mutual in their Healthcare Survey 2005: towards Social Health Insurance.
“All 100 employers surveyed say they want to play a part in the process of transformation and in the decisions taken that affect both employer and employees. This finding contrasts sharply with the 62% of respondents who say they do not understand the impact of SHI on the healthcare industry. There is significant opportunity for engagement so that employers understand the objectives of SHI.
“The analysis of the opinions of employers regarding the proposed Health Charter indicates that they believe the most important element is the necessity for greater collaboration between the private sector and government for the good of the South African healthcare industry. Employers are sceptical about the success of the practical implementation of transformation and would like more information on the roll-out of SHI and other initiatives aimed at transforming the healthcare industry.”
Old Mutual (2005) Old Mutual 2005 Healthcare Survey: towards Social Health Insurance. Previously available on http://www.oldmutual.co.za but no longer on that site. Document can be downloaded here (2.459 Mb) [Download here]
No policy documents available but comments or descriptions of conference proceedings found in:
South African Medical Journal: http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj
Medical Chronicle: http://www.wilbury.co.za/mc_archive.html
The HASA Annals are produced annually and contain research articles on topics such as human resources, medical inflation and the cost of private healthcare. Complete electronic versions for earlier years are not available on the HASA web-site but a search on “Hospital Annals” produces the individual articles. Articles in the HASA Annals 2008 can be downloaded from:http://www.hasa.co.za/media/uploads/about/publications/files/2009-02-26/HASA_Annals_2008_CONTENTS.pdf
The HASA Private Hospital Review 2009 contains the following research articles [can be downloaded from IMSA web-site]:
- National Health Insurance in SA
- Hospital Admission Rates in SA
- Private Hospital Capacity
- Extent of Cross-Subsidies in SA Healthcare System
- National Health Reference Price List
- Partnering Sector
HASA Conference 2009: slides on Investigating Private Hospital Sector by Barry Childs
http://www.hasa.co.za/documents/detail/52/
The BHF held a policy conference on 12 November 2008 on National Health Insurance. Speakers included COSATU, Alex van den Heever from the Council for Medical Schemes and Prof. Di McIntyre, the Research Chair: "Health & Wealth". The three presentations can be downloaded from
http://www.bhfglobal.com/bhf-policy-conference-12-november-2008
National Health Insurance – Finding a model to suit South Africa. Written by Heidi Kruger – Head of Corporate Communications, PCNS and FMU at the Board of Healthcare Funders. “The views expressed in this article are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the BHF or its members”.
http://www.bhfglobal.com/national-health-insurance-%E2%80%93-finding-model-suit-south-africa
“The Board of Healthcare Funders, following an industry meeting in March 2009, has prepared a formal position document on National Health Insurance. [Download here]
Financing South Africa's National Health System through National Health Insurance: Possibilities and Challenges (Colloquium Proceedings). Compiled by Claire Botha and Michael Hendricks for the HSRC Policy Analysis Unit. URL: http://www.hsrcpress.ac.za/product.php?productid=2240
“The provision of universal access to healthcare, a right enshrined in the South African Constitution, is the responsibility of government. Although much progress has been made towards the creation of a national health system which makes 'access to health for all' a reality, much remains to be done.”
“As a means to facilitate debate on the subject, the Policy Analysis Unit of the Human Sciences Research Council, hosted a colloquium on 'Health within a comprehensive system of social security', under the auspices of the South African National Liaison Committee of Unesco's Management of Social Transformation Programme. The main purpose of the colloquium was to initiate policy dialogue and critical discussion on how health services are accessed, provided and funded - and to formulate ideas, views and recommendations that could be presented to those involved in health policy development. This book contains the keynote addresses and a summary of deliberations emerging from the colloquium.”
“The P>AN has a website that seeks to support the South African policy community by providing resources on policy-related issues in a range of thematic areas: the developmental state, gender, health, poverty, social & economic policy, social innovation and social protection.”
Health section: http://www.pan.org.za/health.html
http://www.dbsa.org/Pages/default.aspx
A document has been prepared but is not on the DBSA web-site. A near-final version that was handed out at a meeting of stakeholders is available [download from the IMSA web-site].
Towards Quality Health Care for All. FMF Feature Article / 10 February 2009. By Eustace Davie
http://www.freemarketfoundation.com/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleType=Issue&ArticleId=2550
“Health-e is a news agency that produces news and in-depth analysis for the print and electronic media. Our particular focus is HIV/AIDS, public health and issues regarding health policy and practice in South Africa.”
Health-e partners are:
Health-e “will publish opinion pieces from various stakeholders and experts on National Health Insurance.” Recent articles include:
- SA healthcare in desperate need of reform – by Prof Gavin Mooney
- NHI - What's wrong with this debate? – by Alex van den Heever
- Discovery - 'Bring the NHI debate into the public domain' – by Dr Jonny Broomberg
See: http://www.health-e.org.za/
Amandla! is published by AIDC which “aims to strengthen the movement for social justice through the production of alternative knowledge and by enhancing the institutional capacity of Peoples’ Media Organisations and the communication capacity of progressive civil society organisations that facilitates a dialogue giving voice to the poor and marginalized locally and internationally.”
See “The NHI Debate” on the Amandla! web-site.
http://www.amandlapublishers.co.za/special-features/the-nhi-debate
|
