'State plans universal healthcare'

03 September 2009 - 02:00
By unknown

THE majority of the country's health funding should flow through the national health insurance to ensure more equal access to healthcare, Deputy Health Minister Molefi Sefularo said yesterday.

THE majority of the country's health funding should flow through the national health insurance to ensure more equal access to healthcare, Deputy Health Minister Molefi Sefularo said yesterday.

"It is within this context that the present dominant role of medical schemes in healthcare funding needs to be reviewed," he told the Board of Health Care Funders conference in Sun City, North West.

"The current concentration of healthcare resources in one sector that benefits a few is not what we envisage," he said.

He said the proposed NHI model calls for adjustments to the national health system in relation to revenue collection, the pooling of funds, the purchasing of services and the provision of services to the general public.

"The intention is that the NHI will be funded from tax revenue and mandatory contributions." - Sapa