The long awaited National Health Insurance Bill was published last week, leaving the two most critical questions unanswered: What will it cost; and What will it cover?
There also emerges other questions which have to date not been address, such the impact on Medical Device Suppliers, and how this vulnerable industry has to respond to the callenges and opportunities that NHI will create.
So far the South African Medical Device Industry Association, SAMED, has welcomed the Bill, but no substantive comment has been forthcoming.
We will in the coming weeks publish our own comments on the Bill from industry perspective, but in the mean while encourage you to read the bill for yourself and engage on its implementation and public discourse.
B11-2019_National_Health_Insurance.pdf
Mark Banfield is an independent industry consultant working in private practice.